LAST VISIT TO BABY HOUSE FOR TRIP # 1

LAST VISIT TO THE BABY HOUSE FOR TRIP #1

This morning we started the day by going to the notary to sign the formal petition to adopt Antonina. We are so excited; we are going to be parents to a little Russian Princess!!!! We were at the notary for almost an hour, while they prepared all the necessary documents. Once we signed everything we were taken back to the hotel. We were told that we would get a last visit with Antonina. We wanted to say good bye (temporarily), and we wanted to leave her the photo album that he had prepared for her with pictures of us, my Mom and Dad, my 2 brothers and my 2 dearest sisters. Well, there was a little problem; we were told that if we wanted to go to the baby house we were going to have to take a taxi! We were a little bothered by that, just because we don’t know the language, but after some back and forth with the coordinator, we agreed that our translator Olga, would graciously accompany us, and in return we said that that we would pay for her to be picked up and dropped at her house. We felt that it was the right thing to do. Well, since we had a little more than four hours before we could visit with Antonina, We decided to venture out into the city. Let me tell you it’s been snowing every day, so the streets and. the sidewalks are frozen, so it makes it very hard to walk, not to mention that it’s freezing :o). Anyways, we decided to buy some souvenirs, and then we wanted to go to a pizza place called Milano. Thanks to our friends the G’s who were so kind to leave us a deciphered map of Tver, we were able the places relatively easy. We started by the Matrioska store, were they sell the famous nesting dolls, hand painted lacquered boxes, among other Russian arts and crafts. The place has some wonderful arts and crafts. We bought some things for Antonina’s room, the cutest hand painted rattle I have ever seen, a lacquered Russian princess depicted on the box. This will represent our little bundle of joy :o). Then we passed by the Chicken House, the Russian version of KFC. We found some other restaurants, but we did not venture in. We took some pictures until we got to the pizza place, we were so happy we found it. After not eating well for the first few days we wanted something good. Mauri ordered a ham and cheese pizza and I ordered a Hawaiian pizza. Right before we were leaving the pizza place, it started to snow again. Did I mentioned that we were a little far from the hotel! Well, we started to head back and while we were walking I fell on the sidewalk, and then Mauri fell too. It was a very awkward, but funny situation. Thank God we did not get hurt. Finally we got back to the hotel, we were really happy to be back. About a half and hour after we got back it was time to leave to see Antonina, our translator Olga was there with a hired car. Once we reached the baby house, we noticed that they had a full house yet again. There were several couples visiting their babies. Since there were no rooms available they took us to a hallway and brought us a small padded mat so we could play with Antonina. The hallway was pretty crowded, even for Antonina, but we tried to make the best out of our visit. We played with her for about an hour, but her meal time and naptime were running late and she started to get restless, which we understood. As soon as she starts to hear those pots and pans, it’s like, get away from me, we need to eat!!! We got a glimpse of how they line them up to eat, let me tell you it’s a little bit disturbing. Don’t take me wrong, we know the caretakers are doing the best they can, but at the same time it is very difficult to see how they line them out to feed them all at the same time. They only get a certain amount of time to eat and if they don’t do it within their allotted time, they will stay hungry and even if they cry, they won’t feed them separate. We can’t wait to take her home so we can feed her and take care of her. Well, we had to say our goodbyes, we told her, and we will see her very soon. We were heartbroken to have to leave her, but he have to remain positive that we are meant to be together. Tomorrow we are supposed to have our medicals. We need to visit 8 specialists in order to get cleared for the court hearing. In the afternoon, we are supposed to see the judge. I will post more tomorrow.