We've Moved

Today we went to the orphanage at 9:00 am again. They have been repainting and doing some wall repairs to the inside of the orphanage, so it was an opportunity to ask if we could take the kids to a different area to play today. We were able to take Victoria and Blake to the gym. This room is much bigger and more open. Shortly after the visit began, we were joined by Victoria’s roommates, making 12 kids’ total (two caretakers too). It really was sweet to watch all the kids play and interesting too. Blake really looks out for and takes care of Victoria when the other children were around. The kids were playing with a beach ball that Heather and Justin brought. When one of the children got the ball besides B or T, Blake would do what he could to retrieve it from the others and give it to Victoria. I have decided he might think we are one large family unit. He cares for her like an older brother would. Also, his time with his new family includes us too! He really is sweet and has such a tender heart.











Victoria was talking a lot today! It sure was nice to hear. It seems every day she becomes more relaxed. In some ways it really is good that I am not able to have her with me during the 10 day wait. I visit a couple of hours a day right now almost every day, instead of completely removing her from her environment and completely immersing her in mine (or at least my environment at the hotel). This way I think it will ease the transition for her. We shall see?














I brought Victoria some bottled water, she seemed to enjoy this. I have recently been told that at the orphanages it is difficult to get milk, it is expensive. With that being the case, the children are often given coffee or tea ….yuck! And some complain of issues related to withdrawal from caffeine, headaches and so forth. Anyway….back to the water…she likes for me to pour the water in the lid and she sips from it like she is drinking from a small cup. Lana came to get us, it was time for the children to have lunch (which from what I can tell, this whole week so far has been a sort of soup and pickles, we leave at this time). I gave Victoria one last drink of her water from the lid, when she was done she handed it to me and said, “ SPASIBA!” It was said loud and clear. Now Victoria does speak Russian and well, so I have been told. Today she did talk a lot and I just don’t understand much….we do seem to work it out though. SPASIBA means THANK YOU…I thought this was very sweet of her to thank me for the water, but not only that, I understood it!! It was another fun visit!

I do hope to have Victoria with me at the hotel by Tuesday. The court decision will be final at that time. From what I understand the 10 days is put into place, allowing someone to appeal the decision if they so desire!

We saw this cat a few days ago...I am certain he is on life #8!!

We came back and didn’t do much more then what we normally do. It rained most of the day again, but stopped by late afternoon. We walked down by the shore and took the leftovers from the fridge to feed the cats and dogs in the area. There seem to be many, though they don’t all seem to be starving. Also, along the shore, one can tell there was a beautiful park at one time with a few rides. The park is completely run down and the rides no longer in use. Our boredom is obvious by the pictures taken.

He is shy, but ate what we left.

,A home on ride back to hotel...many of the same along the way.

Oh, but I almost forgot (the title)….big news…we moved to a suite this evening! I will post pics. of the new pad tomorrow. I think our space has more than doubled,cool!

Love the e-mails from people telling me they are following my blog, that really does mean so much to me.I appreciate everyone’s support!

What more could one want right?!? Here it is called Coca Cola Light. 

Rain, Rain Go Away......

It rained all day today…very dreary! But was able to see Victoria again today. We were picked up at 9:00. There was confusion when we arrived. Irina was not there yet and of course we don’t speak Russian, so we could not really figure out what was going on. One of the ladies in the orphanage was talking away while walking with us up to the visiting room. We were able to make out our children’s Russian names, but that was about it. A few different women came in and tried to explain something to us. I think at that point we had determined it had something to do with Blake. They did bring Victoria out to us. She had on different clothes today, that was good! Irina showed up shortly and was able to figure out what was going on. Unfortunately, Blake was not there. He had been taken to the Dr. for some medical exams. These poor kids, I tell you, they seem to have lots of “medical” people messing with them all the time. I felt bad for Heather and Justin, like me they were really looking forward to spending time with their child. Irina took them back to the hotel in her car and the driver stayed until we finished our visit.

Again we tried another dress today….24 months. She really enjoys the clothes and is starting to really enjoy getting her picture taken, realizing she needs to smile when the camera is aimed in her direction. I had some M&M’s for her today. She really liked those. When you learn about adopting a child from an institution, you also learn of food issues. Typically the children will hoard food, stuff themselves, for fear of not knowing if there will be more or when it will come again. This continues until the child begins to feel trust and knows there will be more food and there is not a shortage. The orphanage Dr. talked to me about some of her eating habits a few days ago and I thought we might not have this issue, but after observing today, I could be very wrong. The Dr. had explained that Victoria is a very picky eater; she does not eat much and also eats very slowly. Today she was not swallowing what was already in her mouth and also just continued packing it in. I let her do this for a bit, but then just put one or two candies in my hand for her to take and broke off pieces of the shortbread cookie instead of giving her the whole one. This is for sure not the first time she has had chocolate or cookies with me, but the first time I have seen this behavior. Maybe showing she is becoming more comfortable with taking food from me, but of course no secure enough to know she won’t be deprived. I am not concerned about it at all. It is to be expected. Just thought that might be an issue I would not have seen with her. In time…

She still loves the gloves and purse. She really enjoyed me picking her up and allowing her to look out the window on the second floor of the orphanage. She found this fascinating, like she had never seen the view from the second story window before….who knows? Today she gave me a sweet hug, really wrapped her arms around my neck. Very sweet!


We left to go back to the hotel and pick up Heather and Justin. We were told we would go to a grocery store and children’s store downtown, which we did. There stores were right next to each other. In the children’s store I picked up some things for both Dylan and Victoria. We looked in other shops and then headed to the market. Ha! We did the best we could. We do have a small fridge. We tried to get items that we felt we could recognize (crackers, cheese, cereal…etc).

It rained all day and it is suppose to do the same tomorrow, ugh. Tomorrow we visit Victoria in the morning and Thursday in the afternoon, due to the kids getting some medical stuff done Thursday morning.

3 Days Since Court, 7 More To Go......

Today we were able to visit Victoria in the morning. Irina bought the kids (Victoria and Blake) chocolate eggs to give them. They really enjoyed these. The eggs were hollow with a toy in the center. I broke the egg up for Victoria and she ate the pieces from my hand. Also, she picked up the tiny slivers left in my hand and put those in her mouth too! Every last speck, my kind of girl! She wore the same thing she has worn the last two times I have seen her, including the strange blue headband. Blake was in the same outfit too. I don’t mind, I realize it is an orphanage and they put the kids in the best clothes they have when visitors come to see them. My pictures might start to look like they were all taken on the same day though.

Today we did bring her an outfit to try on and wear, along with her purse and gloves. We also brought shoes today, though that is not new; we brought 3 pair the other day. Blake enjoyed the pink boots we brought the other day just as much as Tori, very cute!

One of the main reasons mom brought this outfit today was because we thought it would not fit and we could leave it if needed. The outfit is 24 months; we mostly thought it would be short on her. Sure enough, 24 months fit. I think 24 months is the same as 2T? She is also currently wearing a 6 or 7 shoe size. She really loves getting dressed up! The kids also enjoyed a cookie that we got from the farmer’s market the other day. We played, colored, took pictures, admired clothes and of course; some running and throwing in the air were involved in our visit too! At least we did not get in trouble today for waking sleeping kids! It was a great visit! We go again tomorrow at the same time! =)

The ride home from the orphanage took about 2 hours, instead of 1. There had been an accident, so traffic was SLOW. The exhaust from the other cars was pretty bad; we were all not feeling so well by the time we got out of traffic. Unfortunately, it seems a pedestrian was hit by a bus.

I talked to Dylan on the phone tonight, which was very nice. He told me the weather there is nice. Here it rained most of the morning and of course was cold. Dylan and I talked for about 25 minutes. After that, we went for a nice walk with Justin and Heather (of course by the tracks and to the market). On the walk, we had a big discussion as to how much my phone call home actually cost me. First, I think we had thought $90. Then, talk of $900…. I thought well, I already called, not much I can do about it now. When we came back to the hotel, Justin asked the front desk and concluded it was only about $11. Ok, much better and I can deal with that. They just put the comma’s with numbers were we would use decimal points, that is where the confusion came in. Also, on the walk, we checked out some public restrooms. They were really pretty bad, I mean bad! I can’t post pictures of Victoria yet so…..yeah….here you go……The first photo is the men's restroom and the second is the women's.  In the women's restroom, wood is on each side of the whole for feet placement.