Finally Over the Jet Lag

We made it home safely, though we were absolutely exhausted when we got home. The 5 hour wait in Atlanta between flights was brutal. We were both counting down the minutes until we could board the plane and fall asleep, as we were afraid if we slept in the airport we would miss our flight!!

Its now set in how much we need to do to get ready for the kids. I'm making a spreadsheet of tasks for us. We're clearing loads of stuff out of the house and donating it. We've already done a lot of childproofing, but we still have a little more to do.

Our friends have been wonderful in their comments on the blog and their emails to us about how excited they are for us. Thank you all! We've really appreciated your kind words. I miss Liam and Sophie, of course.

Pete's working frantically to get some of his toys posted to sell. Tonight we are going to an adoptive parent outreach meeting, which should be informative on bonding and attachment.

Not much else is going on with us- just recovering from our trip and preparing for the wonderful change about to happen!

Oh, and we've booked a flight for my sister Rachel and her son Dominic to fly up for a long weekend. Rachel is going to be our nanny, and we want her to see the house and meet our friends before she moves.

Our thoughts are with our friends Sarah and Jeff as they get custody of their two little ones in Moscow today!

Fun Outside Today

We Sure Got Muddy This Morning

Riding the hobby horse in the orphanage.

Both kids trying to climb into the cab of this truck.

At the orphanage gate looking at a sourpuss who walks by every single day with his 3 fat pugs. There was a pug convention this morning. The sourpuss and a lady were sitting outside the fence of the orphanage with 10 obese pugs. I think the pugs are fed more than the children in the orphanage.

Sophie with her strop on. I can't remember what we had taken away.

One port-a-let entrepreneur. Can you make out the "office" in the leftmost port-a-let? Firstly, ooohhhhh. She sits in there waiting for her customers...mustn't it smell? Secondly, she's severely cutting into her profit margin by using that as an office. can't she just sit at a card table and chair? Its 15 rubles- about 62 cents- to use one of these disgusting things. Interestingly, you never smell anything from them when you walk by.

It rained and thunderstormed last night and this morning, so the playgrounds were muddy. We played inside with the kids for a while, maybe an hour or so. I'm trying something new with Liam. He likes to throw things, so I'm now giving him forceful loving whenever he throws something. I scoop him up and hold him in my arms. He actually likes it, but only for about a minute and then he wants down. It actually seemed to work in reducing how often he's throwing things. I think he's just doing it for attention. Sophie, on the other hand, isn't so fond of it. She throws a strop and Pete gives in!

So, we went outside after about an hour, and we were all covered in mud. The kids enjoyed stomping in the puddles, and putting their hands in the puddles. They're very active kids, so I need to learn how to discipline them while not damaging them or our bond. I've got plenty of books on this kind of stuff to read in the next 6 weeks!

Highlights of the Day

We bought a "bubble machine" on Ulitsa Arbat yesterday and it was a hit with the kids today! They went crazy for it, especially Liam Danila.For court, we have a picture of us with the kids, I guess to prove we have met them. Here's our first family portrait. I look like a librarian today....not that there is anything wrong with librarians. It was very hot because we were inside due to the rain, so by this time, we were all nice and sweaty. Lovely, huh?

After our kid time, we came home and Pete snoozed while I shopped. Soon enough, Valya was here and we were off to the circus (tsirk in Russian)!

The first thing we saw we walked in was this live camel. You could pay to have your picture taken with it. There were poodles, a crocodile, a baby bear, a panther, a cheetah, and two tiger cubs. You could have your picture taken with all of them for a price. When I saw the tiger cubs, I had to do it. I'll never get to hold a tiger cub again...so that $20 for 60 seconds basically. Valya's friend got us into the circus for free, so that was fabulous. The circus was very good, though the lion show was a bit upsetting for me. I just don't know how well they are treated.

This is Valya and I waiting for the show to begin.

The Moscow Circus

Tonight we are going to the circus with Valya. She should be here in about 10 minutes or so.

I spent the afternoon, as it was raining heavily, shopping and registering. Pete slept...there's something that just makes us tired all the time here. I think its the heat, and we're probably still a bit jet-lagged. Neither one of us slept well last night. I do miss my bed...I'm not gonna lie.

We gave the orphanage our donation today. We are buying a rug for our kids' gruppa room. The Orphanage Director is very nice and gave us a nice send-off, since she won't be at the orphanage tomorrow when we visit. Tomorrow is going to be very hard, saying goodbye to the kids and reassuring them that we will be back for them. I am about to cry just thinking of it!

Pete and I have both said that we're going to be beat Monday. My vacation days are dwindling, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to make it in. We probably won't get home until at least 1am. I'm going to try very hard to sleep on the plane. I have way too much on my mind to sleep these days though.

I'll try to post some video and more pics when we get back from the circus. We got some really cute footage of them!

Lights Out

We went to the Izmailovo Market yesterday and will probably go again tomorrow because we didn't bring enough money. Prices on souvenirs were much better than they are here on Arbat Street. I'm so glad my friend Marina told me about it! They had chess sets where the pieces were the Soviet Union versus the USA, which I thought was very funny!

In the middle of my shower this morning, the lights went out. I could see well enough, but I unfortunately tried to brush my teeth with something that wasn't toothpaste! Strangely, it was only the lights that weren't working. The computer, fan and TV were all still fine.

Its raining now, so we'll probably be indoors ( I would hope so) with the kids this morning. We're getting picked up at 8:45 am to go the orphanage. It takes about an hour to get there.

Here's another interesting Russian phenomenon- privatized port-a-lets in the busy areas of Moscow. It will be about 3 or 4 port-a-lets per "entrepreneur". 15 rubles to use the "tooalet", and one of the port-a-lets is the entrepreneur's office! I have to take a picture of this.

Pete's found the Russian version of a English delicacy I don't particulary like- Jaffa Cakes. They're little sponge cakes with orange filling covered in dark chocolate. They have a lot of non-Russian food items here- Nestle, Fanta, Nescafe and loads more.

Gotta run...Vlad is here.

Our Intent to Adopt Them Is Official!

We signed the papers today- we are going to be the parents of Liam Kenneth Danila Stacey and Sophie Kristina Stacey. I had Danila's name wrong. I thought it was Danil, but its Danila. We got their height and weight today. The measurements are from June- they are tiny!! Sophie is 22.4 lbs and 31.5 inches, and Liam is 29 lbs and 37 inches. They are obviously malnourished/underfed, as Sophie wants to eat everything in sight.

When we left today, they told Liam we had to go, and he cried :(. I think we are all bonding, which is great. We're concerned about the effect on them when we have to leave, but we want to make sure they are reassured that we are coming back for them.

We got to play with some of the other kids today, too. One little boy, whom I think has Down's Syndrome grabbed my hand and had a very strong hold. I felt so bad, not knowing what to do. Would it be confusing for him if I held his little hand and then he realized I am not going to be his mama? They call every man they see Dada. All their caregivers are Mama. Its obvious that the caregivers care for these children. This seems to be a very good orphanage with caring staff, and really pretty decent facilities. I'm going to try to get some pictures to show. I've not taken pics of their gruppa rooms yet, but maybe I will try to tomorrow. We usually are outside with them.

We're going to try to venture to Izmailova market today for souvenirs. I will post pics from today later.

Pictures of our Cuties Today

Danil giving one of his priceless "ooh"s when I handed him this balloon that was in a tree. He'll see the slightest little thing, like a bug on the ground, and let out an adorable "ooh" of surprise!
Danil and Kristina playing this morning on the playground. Anything new is very exciting for them. The smallest things give them pleasure. We had bubbles for them, which they loved blowing. I may have mentioned this before- they both kept sticking the wands in their mouths!

We brought the kids toys this afternoon- a doll for Kristina and a truck for Danil. They both loved them, however Danil broke his truck in the first five minutes he had it!!! Kristina went about immediately undressing her doll very carefully, as they have to do in the orphanage. Later, she enjoyed eating the styrofoam from the box in which Danil's truck came! Ack!!! Its not easy to get things away from these kids once either. I managed to get the styrofoam and get her to eat gerber graduates puffs instead.

Another Hot Day in Moscow

It was fairly hot again, but more pleasant. It started raining right before we left the orphanage at 6pm. We were lucky enough to get to spend about 5 hours with the kids today in two different visits. The orphanage is on the northwest outer ring of Moscow, and we are on the southwest inner ring, so it takes about an hour to get there. Most times we ride in a car that is not air conditioned!

The kids were great today. Liam Danil sure does love his cars! There was a car with a door open and he really wanted to get in it. He's infatuated with them. I told him that he will get plenty of car rides with daddy in the future (of course that was in english and he didn't understand). He's such a little cutie. I think he looks like our friend Robin, so we're going to ask robin where he was about 4 1/2 years ago....

We think that we're going to have a harder time getting Liam Danil to bond to us. I think he's learned not to get attached. Sophie Kristina, on the other hand, is a little love bug. I ask her, "Kto eta?", which means Who's that? and point to Pete. She says, "Eta dada." (that's dada).

Its thunderstorming here, and we're planning to go to dinner with another couple adopting to a restaurant called "Moo-Moo" with a big cow out front. Last night when we walked by, there was a woman sitting on the cow getting her picture taken. It was quite funny.

We've met the Orphanage Director, and she seems impressed I know some Russian. I assured her I know only a little, but they seemed to like it. We've been permitted to see a lot of the orphanage today. This morning we saw their gruppa room, but no other children in it. Then, when we were outside with the kids, several gruppas came out to play. This afternoon, I got to see their gruppa room, the bedroom and the bathroom. Their gruppa came and played in the same playground (there are about 5 or 6 at the orphanage) we were in with them. We gave all the kids gerber graduates puffs, which were a hit. Several of the kids were very sweet. Its upsetting that there are all these children who want parents, and we know loads of people waiting to adopt.

We're going to dinner soon, and then I'll post some pics from today. We brought bubbles and the kids loved them (until they started sticking the wands in their mouths and I had to take them away!).

No More Peace and Quiet :)

This is what most of our afternoon consisted of!!!

Names

I think we have decided we will change their names: Sophie Kristina Stacey and Liam Kenneth Danil Stacey (after pete's dad).

We just went out for morozjeniye (ice cream) and another 5 liters of water. There is a zoomagazine (pet store) right here where we have our apartment. If you know me, you know I love me some animals! Every day, after it cools down a bit, the zoomagazine people sit out front with animals. Tonight, there were about 10 rabbits and 2 kittens. Its so strange, these rabbits just sit on a box and don't hop off! One of the kittens was in a large tupperware container(seriously, like you put leftovers in). The other kitten was sitting on a box, and I went to pet it, and the lady swatted my hand away and shook her head!!! What the???

I'm a bit disappointed with the way people are here. I actually had someone push me out of the way yesterday. I was just walking down the street, and apparently the dude wanted to be where I was, so he pushed me to the side and walked on by! People don't say excuse me or anything. Next time someone pushes me, I might kick them! Won't Pete love that? The only people that have been nice are my friend of a friend (Valya, who was exceptionally nice!), and staff of our agency. Most others have not been. I'm sure its a cultural thing, and I should get used to it, but don't push me!!!!

OK, done ranting. I have to go to bed so I can get up bright and early to see my little darlings.

Danil and Kristina

I'll post a video of the kids tomorrow. We plan to visit them in the morning and the afternoon.

Nashi Dyeti

We met Kristina and Danil today! They're both adorable, as you'll see. Kristina is definitely the more outgoing of the two. They are in the same grouppa at the detsky dom, and have a very close bond. They were very cute together, and obviously fought over toys like brother and sister do! I found out my Russian is pretty much on par with a three year old, so that works out well. I could communicate with them fairly well, though I missed some of what they said. They appear to be fairly healthy, although Kristina has rickets. They both have some delays, and Danil is probably more delayed that Kristina. They were both born prematurely. Danil was only 2.5 lbs at birth, and Kristina was 5.5 lbs.

I"m having problems trying to post pics...i'll try again in a few minutes.

We will go see Danil and Kristina again tomorrow twice and will formally accept the referral. We have to discuss what to do regarding names.

Its Getting Hot in Here

OK, so, its not getting hot, it is hot. Its really only in the low 80s, but they just don't use A/C here anywhere! Lucky for us, Pete had to call Peace Travel to change when the cleaner comes and asked about a fan. They brought us a fan! Yes!!!

Moscow Picture Show Part 1

Pete and I in front of the Moscow Historical Museum, Red Square

Beautiful onion domes at the Kremlin

St. Basil's Cathedral, Red Square- This is a beautiful building!

Our time to meet the kids has changed. We are not being picked up until 2:45pm now. We are going to Detsky Dom (literally Children's House) #2, which I believe is in the northwest part of Moscow.

So, here are some pictures from today. I don't have any software on this computer to photoshop images, so keep that in mind. It was very bright today, and there's no viewfinder on our camera, making it difficult to see my subjects sometimes!

There are 4 churches at the Kremlin, as well as the Patriarchal Palace, the Great Kremlin Palace, the Terem Palace, the Ivan the Great Bell Tower and a few other buildings. The building that stands out most like a sore thumb her is the State Kremlin Palace, which is a very modern looking building, and I think was built during the Soviet era.

Moscow Fashion

Many younger men here like to wear "elf" shoes. They appear to be a soft leather with a very elongated toe, that sometimes points up a bit. I had been told about these previously, and forgot about them until I was here. I'll try to take a picture of them. Pete has noticed a lot of young men have mullets...very nice! I don't think much else is different fashion wise. You don't see too many people wearing shorts, despite how zjarko (hot) it is!

Its 10:20 pm, so I'm going to curl up with a book and sign off.

Moskva Krasivaya

Marina's friend Valya is lovely, and ever so nice. She indulged us today and trekked to Red Square and the Kremlin. She snuck off and got our tickets to the Kremlin and the audio guides and English for us. We thought she was just checking on them, then we realized that she had gotten our tickets. She brought us flowers, and then she bought us a guide in English to the Kremlin and Red Square. It was very sweet of her. She said she hadn't used English in 40 years, but I thought her English was good. It was a bit of Engl-Ussian between us. We spoke some Russian and some English. while Pete just looked on and waited to be told what to do!

We then ate lunch at, of all places, Sbarro. Everything is so expensive. This was a cheap way to get lunch and sit down in an air-conditioned place. Oh yeah, did I mention how hot it is? Its hot. Hot enough that I wanted to jump in the fountains at Aleksandrovsky Sahd (Alexander's Park, next to the Kremlin and Red Square). Valya was egging me on to do it- I think she would have been amused and horrified if I had actually done it. There were kids who did stand in the fountains and get wet...why not me???

So, we decided to go to on a boatride on the Moscow RIver. We took the metro, then walked about 1/2 mile to the river. Unfortunately, it was 4:25, and the next boat wasn't due for 20-30 minutes, so we are going to do that another day. I was quite tired by this time and my feet were ready for a break. So, we shlepped our selves back to Old Arbat Street (Ulitsa Arbat) and are now "home".

A note on our apartment. Its tiny, but all we need except there's no AC. We didn't expect to have AC though. The exterior is nothing exciting, and the stairwell is a work in progress. Yesterday, when we got here, the elevator worked but had no light. It holds two people uncomfortably. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there is a working light in the elevator today! Also, we have a little balcony which is nice.

Now, for the news you've been waiting for. We are getting picked up sometime between 8am and 9am by Vlad tomorrow. Masha is supposed to call us and let us know. I'm going to look up orphanage #2 now and see what I can find out.

I will post pictures for today after I've had a rest.

No Sleep Til Moscow

That's right, I wasn't able to sleep on the plane. At all. Not a wink. Nor was Pete. Nor was the other couple we traveled with. Shelle had warned me how dry the plane was. It was very stuffy and uncomfortable. But we made it, albeit aboutj 45 minutes late.

We got to our apartment, and had a much needed nap. Then we were off to dinner with Shelle, John, Judy, Sarah and Jeff. I think we all had a really good time, though left a little hungry. We adventured to a grocery store with Sarah & Jeff after dinner, and loaded up on some basics. By the time we got back to the apartment it was nearly 11pm! So, I've just woken up and am going to have some breakfast and call our friend Marina's friend in Moscow.

I'm still recovering from the plane- I feel hungover I'm so dehydrated!!!

3 hours and counting...

We'll be heading to the airport in a half hour.
I'm so glad I took yesterday off work. I spent the day tidying the house, running last minute errands and getting things ready. I was able to do it without freaking out about time.

I took an herbal sleep aid last night, not sure if it was that or fatigue, but I slept well. That is, until Pete's alarm clock started going off at 5:47am. It accidentally was set two hours fast and showed 7:47. That sucked, because it took me an hour to get back to sleep!

On a very sad note, a Russian adoptee died in Virginia this week. Most of those reading this that are PAPs or APs, already know this, but the non-adoptive parents may not. He had been home just months, and was a toddler. His father (presumed accidentally) left him in the car all day in sweltering heat. As a result, it looks like three US agencies have been banned. At least two agencies are confirmed, though one is not. I can't imagine what the family is going through now. I guess I feel for the adoptive mother the most, because she has lost her son and nearly her husband, who has been charged with manslaughter. What a horrific tragedy.

Well, I'm off to eat breakfast. Then we will leave in about 15 minutes!

I'll hopefully get the wi-fi figured out quickly tomorrow and post once we are in Moscow and rested.

26 hours and counting....and a super Monday!

I decided at about 7pm last night not to go into work today. Luckily, I have a very understanding and flexible boss who said that was fine. I wouldn't be able to concentrate for anything! I plan to tidy and clean the house so we don't come to a mess, and finish our to do items. Pete hasn't set out his clothes yet, so I can't pack them. I think he's hemming and hawing about what clothes to bring. We've been told Russians don't wear shorts, but my friend Marina (a Muscovite), told me they do in Moscow.

Originally, when I looked at the weather for Moscow earlier this week, it looked like it would only be in teh 70s. That would have been ideal because we won't have A/C. Now, it looks like it will be in the 80s. This was affirmed my Marina's friend in Moscow, who said it is hot right now!

Speaking of Marina, I met up with her last night. She's very excited for us, as she's been with us through most of this journey. She and her husband Lyev have been with us throught he ups and downs, and we've seen her son get married and have child during our friendship. They've been very kind and helpful to us throughout the process. So much so, that Marina has enlisted her very best friend, who is in Moscow, to show us around Moscow on Monday! Its so very sweet of her. Marina hasn't seen her good friend in 12 years, since she left Russia. I plan to take loads of pictures of Valya to bring back for Marina! I would also like to get Valya and Marina nice gifts to thank them for your their generosity...ideas anyone? Additionally, Marina has given me lots of other tips for our trip, and of course has been a great teacher!

So, I'm off to listen to my Russian Conversation lessons on my ipod while I work on my task list here at home!

Not Much New

I had an indulgent "love it" sized ice cream from Coldstone last night with Pete. My favorite combo is cake batter ice cream with graham cracker pie crust, pecans and brownies in a waffle bowl. I LOVES IT.

I got more items from our prep list done, and a lot of the items on our packing list assembled. We have queen sized bed in the kids' room that will stay there until the onslaught of visitors when we first get home is gone. That bed is the "packing zone". Everything we need to pack is on that bed. We probably have about 80% of the items on our prep and packing lists done. Pete made little wallet sized Ruble conversion cheat sheets. They're even laminated! I personally like to be in the dark about how much in dollars I'm spending in a foreign currency! Alas, Pete is being practical again.

So, I have two more days of work to get through.

The numbers:

50 Number of hours until we start our journey to Russia
132 Approximate number of hours until we meet our kids

Now, I need to try to get some work done.

Less than 72 hours to go

Yes, I'm nervous. Yes, I'm excited. Yes, I'm anxious. There you have it.

We have 71 and a bit hours to go...I wish I could just fastforward to Saturday morning and have everything ready to go! Alas, I can't.

We have had a wee snafu, in that we tried to rent a laptop through Peace Travel and they were fresh out of laptops. We have a laptop circa 2002 that works, but its heavy and I call it the clunker. It can't keep a battery charge for anything, so it always has to be plugged in. Its slow as all get out, even though I've rebuilt it. I believe it might have a virus too. Perfect, eh? Luckily, my friend Jen says she has a laptop we can borrow. I'm checking it out tonight. Hopefully its a bit lighter, and it has be faster and hold a charge!! I'd personally like to just buy a new laptop but Pete, ever the practical one (did I just say that???), has vetoed that for now.

We have a lot of prep list items done now. Tonight, I will start the packing!

A Russian Visa Scare

I was quite excited to see a FedEx envelope waiting for me after lunch today. Then I opened and carefully reviewed our visas. And, doggonit, don't you know there were a couple possible problems? Firstly, we depart on 12 July, but don't arrive until 13 July in Moscow. Our visas show we arrive 12 July, but that is apparently not an issue.

The next one could have been a big show-stopper. If you are a woman who had a passport before marrying, you probably know that your passport simply gets amended with your married name. Its a little blurb on the last page of the passport. I would think this is a fairly routine thing to see, but nine times out of ten when I travel outside this country, it stymies everyone from the local airport people to anyone we deal with in the destination country. WHY???? I have no idea, but it is constantly brought up that my flights are in a different name than my passport...uh, no they're not. Look at the amendment page....derrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Well, wouldn't you know that they put my visa in my maiden name???WTF? All the paperwork was filled out with my married name. When I saw this I felt panic rising. I called the agency that handled the visas, and they seemed to think it wouldn't be issue but had to check for sure. I need immediate gratification you see, so they're "couple hours" time frame didn't work for me. I checked the Russian embassy website...not back from lunch until 2:30 and it was 2:15. So, I posted on FRUA. Nobody responded. So, finally I called the Russian embassy in DC, and got through to a woman who really seemed to have no sense of humor whatsoever. I explained the situation and asked, "Is this going to be a problem?". "No." That's all I got. She was a woman of few words for sure, but I guess that's all I really needed from her.

Lists, Lists and Gifts

I spent a good part of yesterday bargain shopping. My best bargain- $100 worth of merchandise for $39 at CVS. Yes! Anyway, I stocked up on stuff for us (boring) and loads of cosmetics that will be gifts for the caregivers on trip 2. I also got gerber puffs for our trip to give to the kids. Fun!

I made lists in prep of our trip- a prep list and a packing list. And then it dawned on me...we have a lot to do!! argh!!!

Celebrating our Trip

We had a whole day of celebration yesterday for our trip to Russia to meet our kids. One of my closest girlfriends, Cheryl, came home from upstate New York where she is working this summer, for the weekend. That was awesome that she was in town to share in the celebrating. We started the day with a boat ride, which was much fun. One of my other closest girlfriends, Shannon, and her husband Russ, as well as Pete (of course), Kristi, her husband Drew and their little boy Ben came too! Shannon is planning my shower, and her son Bladen is my Godson. I think everyone had a really good time, and the weather was absolutely fabulous for an afternoon on the boat.

We came home a little late to find the rest of our celebration guests waiting for us. Oops! My other closest girlfriend, Yvie and her husband Bob, their little guy Findlay, Jen, Jess and John were all waiting for us. We had a great time. Pete brought out all of his motorized toys- the mini-bikes and the go-ped and people were playing on those. It was a wonderful way to celebrate. By the time everyone left, around 10:30pm, I was pretty tired.

I hiked Friday with my friend Dora, 9.5 miles. We try to do this hike every month. Its a good way for us to catch up and we both really enjoy hiking. We always conclude our hike with a nice big breakfast, even though its 1pm or so when we finish. We both had forgotten it was July 4th, and were a bit confused when a biker rode by and said "Happy 4th!" It took us about 20 seconds to register.

All in all, its been a good weekend. I'm off to do some shopping for gifts for trip 2, and then I'll spend the rest of the day studying Russian, and preparing for our trip.

Happy 4th of July all!

Got the flight and apartment booked

We have our flights booked- we are flying Delta. We got confirmation from Peace Travel that we have the apartment booked. The apartment is in Arbatskaya on Old Arbat street. This is, admittedly, a very touristy area. It is centrally located though, which is good. My friend Marina, who is from Moscow, has told me that things will be more expensive in Arbatskaya. Our apartment has a little kitchen, so we can make some meals ourselves. We leave Detroit on Saturday the 12th, and arrive in Moscow on the 13th. We will have Monday to sightsee, then we have our MOE appointment on Tuesday and proceed to the orphanage from there. We will be able to visit the children every day we are there, though I am not sure about weekends. So, I would assume most days will be spent with some visiting with the kids, and some sightseeing.

I really need to brush up on Russian. I have Pimsleur Russian, the complete set, on audiochip. I keep trying to zip it onto my iPod and its not working. I'm getting very frustrated. I will try again today, and if it doesn't work, I'll just have to spend time every day at my computer studying. I'll find another way to get Russian lessons on my ipod. I need to surround myself with the language- be one with Russian! Ya lyublyu rooski yezik!

I have one girlfriend planning a shower for me, and some work friends planning a shower as well. Woohoo! I'm so excited to get celebrate this awesome lifechanging event with my friends!

We're also planning on flying up my sister and her little guy for a long weekend. They live in Alabama, and she will be our nanny. we have to make sure she doesn't hate Michigan!!! I hope the weather is on its best behaviour that weekend.

Finally, next week I will be putting our blog on private so we can post lots of info while we are in Russia. If you want to be able to read our blog while we are in Russia, and after until we come home with the kids, please email me at jlstacey at sbcglobal.net so I can send you an invite.

It's true! It's true!

We have confirmation of an MOE (Ministry of Education) date of July 15th. We leave on the 12th, arriving midday the 13th in Moscow. We'll stay for a week, play with the kiddos, etc. Then we come back for 4 -6 weeks of chaos preparing for our lives to change forever in a very good way. If you know Pete, you know that he doesn't get excited easily. He's getting excited!

So, there you have it!