Jun 14, 2004… Ok, I know we told you that we’d be “roughing it” for a while but this is how our first day in Moscow turned out…Our day started at 5am (we still can’t get the time change worked out), we ordered room service (American breakfast with a side of French toast) and ate in bed while watching CNN.  Then we went to the gym and worked out (well equipped gym and spa).  After taking our time getting showered and dressed, we went walking around Moscow.  It is very beautiful today (approximately 70 degrees with 30% humidity…my hair looks good!)  We walked to a “tourist” street and did some shopping and ate lunch at the Hard Rock Café.  While walking on the street we met a couple from Missouri (Jason & Janelle).  They had just adopted 3-year-old Alex.  He was adorable, very big and healthy looking.  It was sweet to watch him interact with his new parents.  We leave tonight for Izhevsk (6:55 pm), it’s about a 2 hour flight.  This is the flight that has weight & height restrictions on our luggage (keep your finger’s crossed).  We meet with the Ministry of Education tomorrow…just think we might be meeting Will for the first time…what a glorious day it could be!

Jun 15, 2004…OK, I know that any minute we are going to run out of steam.  Byron and I have yet to sleep for more than 4 hours at a time.  It is now 5 am on the 15th.  We have arrived in Izhevsk, but not without a story to tell…The plane ride to Izhevsk was a harrowing experience.  First, the plane tickets we bought the day before had the wrong flight listed (they don’t use computers to issue tickets…everything is manually typed).  Our driver had to sort out “the mess” and we proceeded to board.  The plane was a scary sight.  It was a large jet, but it needed paint, and it smelled like sausage and B.O. (body odor).  The interior was in shambles.  We were packed in like sardines (and no one spoke a word of English).  The flight itself wasn’t that bumpy, but we felt like the pilot had had one too many vodkas for the day.  The flight attendants passed out barf bags like pillows and blankets, and when we finally touched down in Izhevsk everyone clapped.  We were met at the airport by our agency associate, Alfia; our translator, Yulia; and our driver, Alex.  They were very warm and welcoming people.  We felt very comfortable and safe with them.  They drove us to our hotel (about 30 mins from the airport).  Our impression of the city was not that great.  It is a very run down, poor area.  The buildings all look very dirty and poorly maintained.  However, our hotel is very nice.  (It’s not as good as the Radisson in Moscow).  The hotel is much more like a Bed and Breakfast.  The building is in a gated compound.  Our room is actually like a small suite.  There is a living area, small bedroom, and small eating area.  The hotel staff was very welcoming.  We didn’t arrive until after 11pm, but they cooked us “dinner”.  The menu was in Russian, so we just ordered a Ham sandwich and a Cheese sandwich.  We got one small slice of bread with two pieces of “spam” and a small slice of bread with butter and a piece of cheese.  Not exactly what we expected, but it was sufficient to hold us through the night.  It is definitely not like western standards, but it is probably the better than any places that the locals live.  Overall, we are very happy.  We go to the Ministry of Education at 11 am today and then we go to meet Will at the orphanage.  We should find out today if we can do this in one trip or two.  We are very excited and nervous about the day.  We know that everything is in God’s hand…

Jun 16, 2004… (7am)  It has been the hardest 24 hours of our life.  Things did not go well yesterday.  We went to the orphanage to meet Albert.  First, we spent some time with the orphanage doctor and reviewed his medical file more thoroughly.   We found out that his mother had “abused alcohol” during the pregnancy.  We were already concerned about FAS, so this confirmed our fears about his exposure.  We also learned that his mother had a viral infection during the 15th week of pregnancy.  We aren’t sure exactly what kind (lost in translation), but suspect it was a STD.  Anyway, when they brought Albert in, we were both shocked at his initial appearance.  It is hard to go into detail in this journal, but needless to say, his facial features did not appear normal.  We got to spend a couple of hours with him.  He was a very sweet boy.  He did not cry and he seemed to take a liking to us.  We went through a series of “developmental” screening tests (i.e. Can he turn over, can he pick up toys, does he react to sounds, etc.).  He did ok on some and poorly on others.  We took many photos at various angles and a little video.  When we left, we were very concerned about his development.  He is now over 8 months old and is unable to crawl (he can scoot) and he still does not sit up.  He has difficulty lifting his head all the way up.  The right side of his face seemed slightly out of proportion with the left side of his face.  Needless to say, we were devastated at our first meeting.  We had fears anyway, but we assumed that those fears would melt once we met face to face.  It just got worse.  We returned to our Hotel room and spent the remainder of the day and night talking and emailing photos to our international adoption specialists.  They agreed with our assessment and advised us to decline this referral.  This is not something that we decided lightly.  We have cried and prayed and questioned everything about ourselves and our faith in the last 24 hours.  Albert is a sweet child, but has severe medical issues that we are not equipped to deal with at this time.  This has emotionally scarred both of us, but what do we do now?  We could go home and give up, or we can stay here and try to find another child.  It sounds so callous to think about getting another child at this time, but we have to think about what is best for this child.  This is an extremely poor area of the country, worse poverty and living conditions than I have ever witnessed.  There are many children here that need help, and we can’t help them all.  We feel like we must stay and try to find a child that we can provide the best environment too.  We know that the people at the orphanage will care for Albert.  You can tell that they really love all of the children; it is just a difficult situation.  We are not doctors, so there is always the possibility that Albert will grow up and be fine.  Or he may be adopted by another couple who is better equipped to deal with a special needs child.  We have to just pray that he will be cared for and that somewhere in this mess God has a plan.  At this time I don’t see it…

As a side note, our agency has been very supportive.  They have not tried to talk us into anything and they were immediately willing to help us find another referral.  The translator and Russian Associate here have also been very supportive and comforting to us.  They want what is in the best interest of the child and us.  They are going to talk to the Ministry of Education today and see if there is another child available.  If not, we may have to transfer to another region in Russia.  Keep us in your prayers…

Jun 17, 2004… The past 24 hours have been a nightmare.  We received another referral, spent several hours with what we thought was a healthy baby boy and later found out from our Doctors that he is severely growth and mentally retarded (Microcephaly).  Are we idiots when it comes to children?  Why couldn’t we have noticed this?  The pictures we took of him are precious; I would never have expected this diagnosis.  We are sleep deprived, emotionally exhausted and I am suffering from a painful sore throat.  After several discussions with our agency, they want us to move to a different region…not to give up.  We are continually asking the question of “why us”?  Is this normal?  Are there any healthy children in Russia?  Why have we read hundreds of success stories and not horror stories?  Excuse me for being self-centered/self –absorbed…whatever…but Byron and I deserve a happy ending.  We are going to take a day off and rest.  We think we need some time to get our heads clear.  We are going to just stay in our hotel today and get some sleep.  We think we need to take care of ourselves physically and emotionally.  This will also give the agency time to work.

Jan 17, 2004… 10:30 pm… Today has been a better day.  The last 48 hours have given us a crash course in Russian adoption and medical practices.  We are much more educated and aware of how things work here now.  We have taken the day off and just stayed in our hotel room. We are having our laundry done by hotel staff (I think they have taking a liking to us...they love our animated charades to communicate), they have served me steamed rice and hot tea, Byron had a great lunch of Beef Stroganoff and tomorrow we are ordering a pizza for delivery.  Oh yea, they taught us how to work the satellite TV (we thought it was broken, so never asked how to use it). Byron has his man-hood back w/ the remote!  We are OK for now.  Comfortable.  Relaxed.  Still no news on what we are going to do.  They have provided a possible 3rd referral, but this child has some medical concerns they we already knew about.  We may end up just staying here this weekend while we wait to decide our course of action.  We have plenty of DVD movies to watch and books to read (and now we get CNN on TV), so we will just take it easy if we end up staying here.  

Jun 18, 2004… Yesterday we received another referral in our same region and same orphanage.  We are very apprehensive.  We requested not to meet the child until we could get a preliminary medical report reviewed by our Doctors.  While in country this is not the normal process because there are medical privacy issues protecting the child.  However, due to our circumstances, we got a peek.  Our Doctor reviewed the report and discussed some risk factors associated with premature births, she recommended a visit with the child to gather additional information.  Having been in the country for a week, we now have a better understanding of the Russian medical-adoption process and are continuing to evaluate this child.  This afternoon we sent pictures and data to both our Doctors for review.  We are now in waiting.

Side Note:  I am feeling much better…I think my (2 year old) antibiotics kicked in.  We received our laundry back today…these people could work at the Gap…it was perfect folded!  Believe it or not...we had pizza delivery!

Jun 19, 2004… In yesterday’s journal entry, we sound very clinical and detached.  That pretty much sums up our first meeting with Maxim.  Today, we had our second meeting.  And enjoyed every minute.  Maxim is a healthy looking baby boy who was born Nov 27, 2003.  He was premature at approximately 35 weeks, but weighed 4.5 lbs.  The medical data supports the diagnosis of prematurity and with that in mind, he is in the 25% on growth charts.  Maxim is continually showing great growth numbers each month.  Because of his “prematurity label,” he has not had the developmental attention needed for infants  (What we mean is that because he was preemie, the caretakers look at him as more fragile and don’t handle him as often).  Maxim’s developmental stage is about 1 month delayed for preemies.  He is very strong in some skills, but weak in others.  All of which can be easily corrected with proper care.

Maxim is a very serious baby.  He was a little unsure about us at first.  You had to really get him going in order to get a smile.  He tended to take to Christy pretty well, but he is still unsure of Byron.  He has never seen a man before.  We will be visiting him several times a day over the next couple of weeks.  We will use this time to strengthen our bond with him.

SIDE NOTE: Maxim has to have a name by Monday morning for the court papers.  We did not bring our baby name book, so we are open to suggestions.  We want to keep Maxim “Max” as his first name.  So whoever comes up with his middle name can baby-sit!!

Jun 21, 2004…  We have spent the last two days visiting with Max.  Each day we are noticing new personality characteristics.  He is starting to recognize us and be more comfortable around us.  At the orphanage, they are on very strict schedules.  We are only allowed to see him from 10:00 - 11:30, 2:00- 4:00 and then again from 6:00 to 8:00.  We have to drive over an hour each way to see him, so we generally just see him once (or twice) a day.  The drive is an experience in and of itself.  The roads are very rough with lots of potholes (more like craters).  There are no centerlines or road markings on the road, so it is a free for all when it comes to traffic.  There are a lot of slow trucks with thick exhaust fumes.  The car is very small with 5 of us packed in it.  No A/C and No seatbelts.  Christy gets carsick, so this is quite fun to watch.  The next two days, Max must go to the doctor to be checked out and released from the orphanage.  We will hire a driver so he can make this same scary trip (with no car seat!).  We may not be able to see him during these two days of doctor trips, it just depends on the schedule.

One big hurdle is feeding.  We must be able to show that we can feed Max before they will allow us to leave with him.  This may sound easy, but feeding a 6 month old premie solid foods is an experience.  It is hard to describe.  They eat a puree of vegetables and potatoes (and sometimes meat).  Along with this mixture they get a bottle of brownish liquid. This liquid is made from boiling dried fruits.  They way it works is that you SHOVEL a spoonful of food into one side of the mouth and then popped the nipple of the bottle into the other side.  The bottle causes Max to suck and then the food goes down with the drink.  If you don’t time it PERFECTLY, then he chokes and spits out the food.  It is the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen!!  The caretakers can single-handily feed an entire bowl of food in under 2 minutes and not waste a drop.  We have yet to master this skill.

Still no real news on how long we have to wait here.  We think it will happen soon.  By the way, we had to come up with a name on Sunday (not Monday like we thought).  So needless to say, Max has permission to change his name when he gets older.  We have decided to wait until we get home to reveal his full name.  Just so you know, it is none of the suggestions that have been posted on the website.

Jun 22, 2004…  Today Max went to the cardiologist for a follow up.  They said everything was normal.  But he was completely worn out from his trip to the doctor.  When we got to the orphanage, he had not had a nap, so he was exhausted.  We then had to take him to get a passport photo in town.  The weather here has been extremely hot, it turned into summer overnight.  Getting Max bundled up for the car ride was not a happy experience for him (or us).  He fell asleep during the car ride, and he was so precious.  When we got to the passport office, we were able to completely undress him and put him in white clothes without waking him.  He is an extremely hard sleeper (thank heavens).  He woke just long enough for the photos and was a precious angel.  The rest of the time he pretty much stayed Mad Max…Tomorrow we have a long day.  We have a preliminary meeting with the judge, so we hope to get some information on what our future schedule looks like.  And we want to go do some shopping for the orphanage.  They literally have nothing, so we don’t even really know where to start.  They have not asked for anything, but we just feel like maybe we can do a few small things to help.  They have a very difficult job.  Max also has to go back to the doctor to get his medical clearance so that we may proceed with the adoption.  Oh yeah, Christy still has to pass the feeding test.  Because of the schedule we haven’t had a chance to try again.

Jun 24, 2004… Yesterday Max went to the doctor again to get is final medical clearance.  He passed with flying colors.  They actually seemed surprised that he was so healthy.  We are still worried about his developmental delays, but hopefully once we are home we can help him catch up.  We also met with the judge for a few minutes yesterday.  She just went over our rights and the procedures to expect in court.  So, Today we go to court!  The session starts at 1:30 and I have been told it will last until 5pm.  This is a long time to be on the “hot seat”.  During the court session we will find out if the judge will waive our 10-day wait period.  I can’t imagine staying in this country 10 more days.  Our journal entries will not be updated until we get to Moscow (unless we don’t get the waiver).  If all goes well, Byron, Max and I will be in Moscow Friday evening (yes, we have to ride that awful Russian airliner again).  Max will need to have a check-up from an American Embassy Doctor in Moscow and Monday & Tuesday we will spend the days getting all his documents.  HOPEFULLY, we will start to head home mid next week.  So, if you don’t see a journal update for a couple of days…smile…we are on our way.  We love you… 

Jun 25, 2004…(8 am)  IT’S OFFICIAL…WE ARE THE PROUD PARENTS OF MAXIM!!!  We had court yesterday.  It was another adventure.  The paperwork we needed from Moscow didn’t arrive, but the judge agreed to go ahead and have court anyway because the social worker and orphanage director had traveled from Votkinsk.  The court started at about 1:30 and lasted until 5:00.  They asked us all kinds of questions about our finances, house, parenting experience, etc., etc.  Then we went one by one through all the documents.  In the middle of court, the judge was interrupted and decided to adjourn the court until Friday.  Well, the social worker couldn’t make it Friday, so it looked like we weren’t going to finish until Monday or Tuesday (AAH!).  Then after about an hour everyone came back in and the paper arrived from Moscow, so we were able to finish.  The final motion was us asking her to waive the 10-day wait period.  (Thanks Debbie for getting us the doctor’s signature, that helped).  We were approved as his parents and the 10-day wait was waived.  So, today we go pick up Max at noon.  We were going to try and take a 5 pm flight to Moscow, but the flights are full, so we might not get out until late Saturday.  Once in Moscow, we will be there for 3 or 4 days before heading home.  So if all goes well, we will be home by the end of next week.  We’ll keep you posted.  Now the hard part begins…traveling in a foreign country with a baby that’s never had real formula…should be another adventure!

Jun 25, 2004 … (5 pm)  Today was a great day!  We picked up Max!  We spent the morning running around to about 10 different government offices getting adoption decree, birth certificate, Russian Passport, etc…  After that, we headed to the orphanage in Votkinsk.  Max had just woke, so Christy got to feed him his last meal of meat and potatoes.  She passed the test with flying colors.  Not even a drop spilled.  She’s a natural at this Mommy thing.  We bought a few supplies for the orphanage as a donation (cribs and kid’s tables and chairs).  They were delivered right as we got there.  They finally let us go see where he slept.  It actually wasn’t as bad as I expected.  Anyway…

Max was great in the car ride from Votkinsk to Izhevsk.  He never cried once.  I cried a few times (it is a scary ride!)  We couldn’t get a plane out today, so we won’t leave until tomorrow at 5 pm.  That’s good though, it gives us a day with Max for him to get used to us and new bottles and new food.  The Hotel put a crib in our room for him and he is trying to sleep now.  We are not sure how long we will be in Moscow.  My best guess is that we will be there Sun-Tues.  Hopefully, we can be home by Wednesday.

Jun 27, 2004 … (6 pm) Our first night with Max was probably like any parent’s first night.  We didn’t sleep much.  Every time he coughed or whimpered, we would both jump to check on him.  He actually slept for about 6 hours straight, but we could never fall asleep without worrying about him.  Max is a little sick.  He has a bad head and chest cold.  He had bronchitis in early June, so we are not sure if it is a relapse or a different virus.  A lot of the kids at the orphanage had colds (Christy and I caught them too…).  He has a runny nose, cough, and his breathing sounds raspy.  He is eating very well and plenty of poop and pee, so we are not too worried.  We are going to see a U.S. doctor tomorrow, so we will see what he thinks.  The flight from Izhevsk was fun.  I think we saw all sides of Max.  He screamed, pooped, ate, slept, and laughed…  And that was only a 2 hour flight.  The flight home is going to be fun! We are at the Renaissance Hotel in Moscow now.  It is a nicer place than the Radisson.  They also had a small crib for us to use.  Since Max basically does nothing but sleep and eat, we haven’t gotten out too much.  We did go for a short walk today around the Hotel.  We stopped in at a McDonald’s and then walked around an open Market.  Max did really well, but tires easily because of his cold.  We didn’t want to keep him out long, so we have just been hanging out in the room and eating room service.  After the doctor tomorrow morning, then we go to the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday.  Then we are headed home!!!!!!  I am not sure what the flight times are yet, I am waiting to hear back from the travel agent.  But we should be home sometime in the evening on Wednesday.  Almost over…

Jun 29, 2004…Well, we thought we were headed back home!  All the flights out of Moscow are booked solid until Friday (July 2nd) and the flight we have managed to get on is from HELL!  We leave Moscow at 7am, have 2-3 hour layovers in Germany, Washington DC & Atlanta, and we don’t arrive into FWB until 10:30 at night.  My stomach gets upset just thinking about this.  How are we supposed to do this with a sick infant?  Do you realize how much formula, diapers, wipes, change of clothes, toys, medicine, and bottles I am going to need?  Can you imagine what Byron & I are going to look like after this experience?  I am not sure I want my friends and family to see us get off the plane after all this…it could be a very scary sight!

Today we go to the US embassy to get Max’s Visa.  Hopefully, we can go by the grocery store on our way back to the room (we need to restock Max’s supplies) and pick up some snacks etc.  We are currently at about a $300+ daily burn rate with lodging & food.  So, we really need to get home ASAP!

We miss everyone and are so thankful for the outpouring of support.  We’ll keep you posted on our exact arrival time into FWB.

Jun 30, 2004...WE ARE HOME!!!  We showed up at the Moscow Airport about 30 hours ago and were able to change our flights to make it an easier trip.  We only had to go from Moscow to Germany to Altanta.  We got to Atlanta earlier than previously planned, so we changed our tickets and came home Today (June 30th). 

The trip was very tough on little Max.  He is exhausted.  We are sorry that we were unable to let everyone know.  We know you guys would have all been there at the airport waiting on us.

We haven't slept in about 35 hours, so if you need us email is the best.  We are going to try to get some much needed rest.  Thank you for all the great support and prayers.  What an amazing family Max has come home to . . .