Couple of days,couple problems one happy ending.

DAY 1

Today consisted of a lot of waiting around for a phone call from our translator Olga. Our coordinator was trying to get an appointment for us at the baby house, but we were told that the chief doctor was out of town. We originally thought that we would not be visiting the baby house. Our translator Olga was nice enough to meet with us and take us shopping at the grocery store. We came back to our apartment and received a call from our coordinator. She wanted to come and meet with us at our apartment. She basically wanted to know exactly what we are looking for. After discussing the issue she said that we would be able to meet a sibling group that day. The girl was around one year and a boy that was around four years. We were very excited.
On our way to the baby house we stopped at an Armenian Restaurant. The atmosphere was really neat. We did not have a whole lot of time so we ordered right away. Deb had a chicken shish kabob and I had the pork shish kabob. They were pretty good. We now understand why everyone is tiny here. Very small portions. We both should be coming back a few pounds lighter. We are both happy about that.
We were very surprised to see many colorful murals on the wall. Talk about intimidation. When we got there they brought us into an office and there were three doctors, the coordinator, and Olga. They then brought the boy in for us to see. He was very cute, but shy. They tried getting him to call us Mama & Papa, and to come over by us. They then brought the girl in and handed her to me. She cried off an on. She was most comfortable when she could see her caregivers and her big brother. After about twenty minutes they allowed us to bring the children into a private room for about a half an hour. We then went back into the office to talk about the medical information of the children. Our coordinator told us that we had to make a decision that night and to call Olga to let her know what we decided.
We knew that this was going to be difficult, but let’s just say that that is an understatement. We decided that they were not right for our family. We had been told by other families that we would know who our child is supposed to be when we first meet them. We did not know how true this statement was and if it would be true to us. But we felt like we had to go with our gut. After we told the very difficult news to our translator she said that we would than try again tomorrow with younger boys, as they did not have any more sibling groups available.
As you can see it was a very difficult day. One in which you start to question whether or not we made the right decision to adopt. On top of it all, the evening continued with many problems. The power converter for the laptop blew up, we had problems getting online, and after about 20 minutes of figuring out how to get the calling card to work, and connecting with Mom & Pop Goerner, the phone line went out. So we went to bed.


DAY 2
We figured today was going to be another difficult day. We had to wait again for the call to get another appointment scheduled. To our surprise we received a phone call from Olga. She and our coordinator wanted to come over to talk to us. We felt like we probably really offended them by our decision and that it could have caused more problems. She asked us if we changed our minds, and wanted to know why we decided to not adopt the sibling group. We explained our reasoning and tried to be very respectful in the process. She seemed a little bit upset but also wants to make sure that we make the right decision. She told us that she would schedule an appointment with the chief doctor and would call us with the information. So we decided to go shopping and sight seeing with Olga. We went to a few shopping malls, to a couple of parks, and to a German Bakery. Soon after we got the call. So off we went to the Baby House. I think that we were both pretty nervous because it is not easy to deny the children there an opportunity to be a part of our lives. We found out when got there that they were going to show us an eight month old boy. They brought him in and he was smiling and laughing. The complete opposite of yesterday with the sibling group. Deb held him for a little while and then off he was to his Papa. I was even bringing big smiles to his face. We decided that he was the one for us. We were not able to spend too much time with him because they woke him up for his nap for us. Everything is very structured and they do not like to disrupt that. We got to take him up to his crib and say goodbye. Of course Deb began to cry. Don’t worry, it was a happy cry. Once you accept a child they expect you to start providing for them. So after we were dropped off at our apartment we went to the market to buy diapers and wipes. We will probably go to but him clothes tomorrow. Oh, I almost forgot. Our coordinator actually knows the birth mother. She was very young when she had him and the father left her. Because she could not afford to provide for him she wanted to make sure that he has a loving home and is well cared for. The birth Mom is Russian and the birth Father is Kazakh. So you are probably wondering what his name is? We would love to tell but we couldn’t pronounce it, so we definitely can’t spell it. So our experience thus far has been an emotional rollercoaster but today and hereafter we are only going up. So yes, It’s A BOY!!!!!