We flew out for our last trip on December 23rd.
It was an early morning flight. Usually I have it pretty well together; I had made so many lists and checked them at least twice and packed. But that morning I was a little frazzled. So completely excited to go get our little girl.
Completely excited - I'm sure the people at the airport wondered how I could be talking so much at such an early hour.
Ryan was proudly showing his Silver Medallion/ Elite status on his boarding pass.
Since he made that extra trip without me he reached this frequent flyer milestone first. I got there on the last trip just so you know. It really didn't get you much when you are flying over the holidays with full planes and an infant that lets you board early anyway. Oh well. For a moment we were elite travelers :)
We arrived in Moscow mid-morning. This was the only time we remembered being able to see the city like this as we descended.
You can see the smoke from the smoke stacks. It's a little hard to see in the pictures but you could see how the clouds hung low. The tops of the tall apartment buildings and smoke stacks were visible poking through the tops of the low clouds.
It was just a neat way to view the city.
We made it to our hotel suite. There was a crib waiting for us. It made it all start to seem at least a little real!!!
It was COLD. -10 Fahrenheit, I think that was like -24 Celsius if I remember our driver's display right. It made it sound a lot colder to say -24. And that was the high for the day.
It was a cold I'd never experienced before. Sort of takes your breath away.
I wanted to see Red Square and everything all decked out for the holidays and we were needing a way to pass some time so we headed out.
We stayed pretty warm - our boots and parkas worked really well. Our faces were cold and my legs but it wasn't all that bad. We didn't experience much wind there and that makes a huge difference. But I was glad we had done our souvenir shopping on previous trips because I wasn't feeling much like browsing!!
We had some yummy beef stroganoff and some dessert before heading back to our hotel. The last night without a little someone to wake us up :)
We got up early. Christmas morning, December 25. It was snowing - a white Christmas!!
(I was incorrect and unclear on my facts about Russians celebrating Christmas - I edited the previous post and there is a link in a comment with more info. So sorry. I have tons to learn about Russian culture and took what a few people told me to be what was true for most.) But December 25 is not a holiday in Russia so it was business as usual.
Our driver picked up us.
There were really pretty trees with awesome lights decorated for the holidays.
The trees in the forests were really pretty as the sun came up (I think it was around 10 a.m. or a little after before it started getting light. It seemed like it was dark forever!)
a few more pictures of the countryside on our drive
We had a few more official documents to complete and pick up. We also had help buying the formula Karina was used to - the last thing she needed was to have an upset tummy trying something new!
Finally we made our way to her orphanage!!!
And she was in my arms!!
She was scared. But we were supposed to change her clothes and be on our way.
So we did. She left those clothes there and changed in to her new clothes and snowsuit and we were ready to go. She had nothing that had been hers to take along other than a few papers from her file.
It felt sort of symbolic to take off those orphanage clothes and change into something new that was hers. Ready for a new life. An orphan no more, but a very loved little girl with a family.
Gotcha!!!
I got the privilege of carrying her out of the orphanage. And into the car.
She was in such awe of everything. Taking it all in. It was a whole new world to her.
She played a little and warmed up to us. She slept quite a bit. And then got completely overstimulated with the lights and traffic of Moscow. Walking in to the hotel was the most freaked out I have seen her. She had the really scared, vacant eyes like she was staring off because she just could.not.deal.
But we got her some food and a bottle right away.
One big way to this little girl's heart is some food!!
And she started adjusting and did amazingly well. The only other time we had to see those vacant eyes was the day we came home.
Had her first bath - it wasn't a hit. If you'd have seen the yellow color of the water that ran into that tub you wouldn't have wanted to "clean up" in it either!!
another gotcha day photo back at our hotel
The next day was pretty low key. We filled out some papers for our U.S. Embassy appointment and tried to figure each other out!
Karina loved the carrier we have for her. It made her feel safe when she got scared.
She did well going out to eat. Didn't seem too overwhelmed. But that's really all we left the hotel room for. We were amazed how many people talked to her. We were sort of invisible before without her. I mean our backpacks, smiles, completely confused with the language - we stuck out as Americans no doubt. But no one gave us the time of day really. But everyone stopped to talk to Karina. She was eating it up - the people on the street didn't seem to stop and chat with each other, but whenever we were in the hotel lobby or eating somewhere they all seemed to want to have some words and smile with Karina. It was interesting!
Thursday we went with some other families from our agency to our Embassy appointment. It was an awesome feeling getting into that vehicle with a bunch of English speakers!!! And meeting their sweet kiddos. We sat in a room with a bunch of other adoptive families at the U.S. Embassy; they schedule the adoption appointments all together so there were several other families from the U.S. with different agencies that were waiting to get their paperwork too. It was awesome to sit in a room with a bunch of people that are doing exactly what you are. We were all breathing sighs of relief to have the finish line in sight. Talking about our waits, about our kids, about our hearts. It was soothing to our souls. There was a 16 year old girl that was being adopted. My understanding is that at 16 or 17 children "age out" of the orphanages. They are put out on the street with basically nothing. They don't really have much of a chance. Many of them end up in prison or commit suicide; many girls end up as prostitutes and many boys end up in gangs. It is so sad to think about all of them. Still trying to figure out how we can help. But the couple that was adopting her was amazing. We spent much of our time talking to them. Karina was making eyes at this beautiful girl and they had fun playing together. They are a couple with grown kids in college and about to retire and they are adopting this girl that was so excited to have a family. Their story was amazing and we had a great time trading stories with them. So happy for that wonderful girl and the life she has waiting. And we talked about the ban that had passed the upper courts while we were in country and was waiting for Putin's signature.
They called our names, we picked up Karina's U.S. visa and packets of paperwork and loaded back up in the van. And celebrated!!! She was free to leave the country. Adoption complete!!!!
We found a Starlite Diner right across from our hotel that served American food. Yummy burgers and fries to celebrate!!! We quickly discovered that Karina was way past the baby food they told us to bring and ready for table food. She liked her first bite of french fries!!!
It had warmed up to the 40's Fahrenheit by the last days of our trip so the sidewalks were really slushy and nasty. So glad for our boots. And for Karina's carrier; there was no way a stroller was going to work. Plus the cars don't exactly watch out for you. Crossing the streets is sort of at your own risk - it was definitely interesting!!
It worked best when we went out to put Karina in the carrier and then zip up daddy's coat around her. So all you could see was her hat!!
Here are pictures from our last night in Russia.
See those nasty sidewalks? They were deep and slushy but partly frozen. It was a mess - amazingly we never completely wiped out!! I am so impressed at the way the women walk around in that stuff with their super high heel boots.
Friday morning, December 28 was Karina's first birthday!! And the day we headed for home. I wrapped her a little present and I was going to take pictures that morning of her. But it took every second we had to get our suitcases packed evenly and get to the airport in time. It's sort of funny - we have pictures from the night before we left and then boom, we're at the airport in Wichita. It sure didn't feel like it went that fast!!! They had trouble getting us checked in at the airport in Moscow but we finally got back to the gates in time to feed Karina a little something before boarding the long flights home. Some have called this the flight from hell. A little girl you barely know who has spent her life inside four walls traveling internationally is a little crazy. That first flight was tough. Karina's ears hurt - we didn't know at the time that she had double ear infections. She was mad at me. And didn't want much to do with Ryan. And she would NOT go to sleep. But she was trying to make friends with anyone else who would look at her. Then we had trouble getting onto our next flight - apparently they were having trouble with Karina's international ticket. I don't know - we got on the flight late next to a caring guy thankfully because Karina was so tired and angry at that point. And we were pretty irritated and exhausted by then too. We managed to feed her something and she was screaming. The flight attendant was asking us questions and trying to be helpful but nothing was working. Eventually they switched us to an a different row where we had an extra seat. Finally she gave in and fell asleep. It got a little easier from there. I was wondering how much worse it could get at that point!
We landed in Atlanta. Took our yellow packet to immigration and Karina was officially a U.S. citizen!!!! And we learned that Putin had signed the adoption ban into law while we had been flying. Our hearts were in our throats. I don't think I have ever felt so many emotions at one time. We were so happy to be almost home. So exhausted and weary. So ready to see Addyson and Braden and be done being torn between our kids on different continents. But feeling like we left unfinished business behind. Sad that kids were denied the chance to families. Angry at the injustices. Frustrated trying to process and understand the tough lives of those around the world that don't deserve anything different that we do. Wishing we could just be excited, but weren't really feeling it. Feeling like God was slamming a door shut right behind us. And not sure where to go from there. So we ate in silence while our sweet baby slept on her first birthday that was so different than the day one year ago and waited for the final leg home.
That flight was thankfully uneventful. And we landed in Wichita around 10 p.m. like we were supposed to!
You've seen some of those pictures so I won't repost. Her daddy carried her off the plane - since I carried her out of the orphanage I figured I would be ok with that. :) It was a fun time to see lots of people who had been part of the journey cheering us on those last steps . . . before the next part started.
Our bags got stuck in Paris. So thankful that was the only time on all our trips they didn't get where they were supposed to!! So we made a claim for those and loaded up in the car.
Karina screamed at the car seat for a few minutes and then fell asleep. And she hasn't minded it since. So amazed at her. She loves to go bye-bye and see things and people.
We made it home that night and snuggled our 3 kids and started to settle in to our new normal. We're still trying to settle in! But it is wonderful to all be under the same roof. To be able to go in her room and see her soundly asleep in her crib. And watch her love to eat.
So thankful that we get to be a part of her life!!
God is faithful and good and we are so thankful we get to be on this adventure. The exciting first part to get her and the less exciting but still exhausting and important part of loving her through the feeding, diapers, scared cries, teething, whines, fishing things out of her mouth, and the struggling to figure out how to be part of a family. Because there are also lots of giggles, snuggles, and loves. It's all good. She is awesomely and wonderfully made by a loving Creator who has an awesome plan for her life. Can't wait to share the rest of it with her . . . and with those of you who check in to see what we're up to on our blog!! Thanks for reading.
