1st hair cut in America!!

i don't have much time but wanted to share these pics because this was the cutest place to get a haircut...andrey started off crying but then found everything very pleasing to him...what a fun place in San Jose! We got his 1st haircut in Siberia & screamed a fierce scream. This was something i'll always remember.

Our Siberian Tiger

hi friends...it feels like forever since i wrote... i realize that there was much writing before russia & then during russia & now it seems we haven't written at all. It's hard to explain what our home has been like lately...we have had some really beautiful joyful moments watching Andrey running & playing & discovering new things & then there have been the hard moments where thomas is just struggling with the whole little brother concept & life is chaotic...i really had prided myself on having a peaceful home but lately peace can change at any moment. So i'm posting some pictures to share the fun times. By the way, andrey is doing fabulous...adjusting, speaking some english words, understanding most everything i say...he goes around closing all our doors which drives me a bit nutty but all of his habits are most likely from his upbringing at the orphanage so i'm careful how i discipline him, etc. I finally got our announcements out in the mail - this was very special to me because during the adoption waiting i envisioned what the announcement would say, what picture we would use, etc. Our dear friend Heidi helped put it together because i didn't have the time or talent...it's just the way i wanted it & it feels like the last step in a long journey...a joyful step...an announcement that Andrey is finally here with us & happy.
Some of our friends from church had a welcome home andrey reception after church on the playground...it was wonderful! That is one of the pics.

Greg is back to work

Saying goodbye to staff at the orphanage...
Well after 6 weeks of Paternity leave for Greg he got up early & went to work this morning. I have been very nervous about this day because since we got Andrey, Greg has been superman & handled all our challenges with hope & faith & some physical strength too (Andrey is a strong guy!)... So far so good...greg's mom came this morning & spent special one on one time with Thomas & I did some one on one time with Andrey. I'm so grateful that he's bonding to us & especially to me as mommy. I took him for a nature walk today in the stroller - he loves the stroller..i showed him trees & flowers & leaves...this is what i had dreamt about prior to having him here with us. He's super active & curious & i'm so tired much of the time...i have forgotten what 2 year old are like, & you can imagine everything be new to Andrey that he's everywhere & into everything. We have a pretty good eating & sleep routine now...much less crying. We are getting to know each other..i did not realize that our developing relationship is a process...i just want everything to be perfect & complete now. Thomas is spending much time in his room on time outs until he can keep hands to himself. I thought it was tough when i just had 1 little boy, now i realize that 2 siblings adds a whole other element to being a mother...lots of refereeing & keeping them safe during disputes. I'm doing ok, i am amazed at how we as human beings can change the life of another..i was thinking about all the effort & work & $$ it took though...it occurred to me that doing the right thing is real tough some time even when it brings joy. Andrey is a cheerful little guy..he's solid & strong & needs to learn to cry when he falls..we're working on that..i'm doing my best to baby him :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Andrey!

hi everyone....today is Andrey's 2nd birthday....we are going to Vasona to celebrate. Real quick, Andrey is doing very well..he's bonding & attaching to us - this is great news as you never know if a child from an orphanage is going to have issues in that area. We have been very busy & have had little time to do anything for ourselves & update the blog. So sorry to all who follow our journey that we came to a screeching halt. Our Thomas has had a difficult time with Andrey - he loves him but it's so hard to share. Thomas has been regressing quite a bit as is normal when a new sibling comes on the scene. Our days are spent helping both boys adjust & we are doing fun things together to help the bonding process. We finally got the eating/snack routine down. At the orphange, they follow a strict routine, so we're trying to keep order with some freedom too.

We will write again..barely had time to squeeze this update out - thomas was screaming cause Andrey got a birthday gift & Thomas wanted to ride it.

Home Sweet Home

arrived safe last night! Thank you for all the prayers & good wishes...we had many traveling mercies as the 1st flight was 11 hours & the second a little over 5! We are home adjusting to being a family of 4 & the crazy time changes!!

Talk soon,
Love,
Greg, Jeanette, Thomas & Andrey

We are coming home.... early!

Hello everyone, things are better. Sorry for such the downer posting last time, but things were hectic, when you're tired and kids are screaming and your options are limited, you get a little down... Thank you for the wonderful posts, they have been very uplifting to us!...

We arrived in Moscow yesterday and were immediately wisked off to get medicals done for Andrey done and get his visa ordered. The doctor was also nice enough to check Thomas for no charge, becauae he is still coughing. She said he was fine, as long as things don't sound worse. We also got Andrey's us passport pic taken. Then... we have room service... burgers!! sooo tasty! and we slept from 600pm-630a! much needed... so, things are better, this hotel, the Marriot Treskavaya is expensive, but very comfortable.. so that helps...

Due to Jeanette's dads illness we are coming home 2 days early, so we\ll be home tuesday night.. we are very excited about that.

what else... Andrey is great, active and in to everything. Thomas is getting better at being a protective big brother.. the common phrase coming from Thomas' mouth is "Andrey Nyet!" in english - "Andrey No!" but you can see he is getting better, they play together now, and thomas tries to protect his new brother from getting hurt. If we did bnot have light switches that were so fun to play with, that would cut out half the arguements! They are so fun!

well, i am off, thomas and i are going to ride the elevator some.. sounds fun huh?

thanks again, Greg

ps.. here's something our friend Lori posted about what our names mean...and it seems to dfit with our trip

Greg (me) - vigilant watchman... keeping the fam. safe!
Jeanette - God is gracious. thios adoption idea was hers.. she is very gracious.
Thomas - Twin, one of Jesus' disciples..
Andrey - manly, strong, courageous. so true.. his world has been turned upside down, and has ben a trooper.. and yes he is strong. moves tables and chairs in the air with no problems..\

thanks lori...

Get us outta here!!!!

Not going to lie to you folks. This is the toughest thing Jeanette and I have ever done. We need out, now. Thomas is a sick, struggling big bro. Jeanettte stays with him, I walk Andrey to pass the time. Its cold. This sucks. No one is sleeping well.

I would pay a large amount of money to get out. So, pray for us, we're struggling, no doubt, but we'll make it!

side note: a drunk guy walked into the salon here whuile we got Andrey's super long hair cut yesterday, and caused a minor scene. Security ushered him out, but he came back in a few minutes later.. There are many "tough looking" security guards here, and I was suprised they let him back in. He approached Jeanette Thomas and I... If Andrey had not been on my lap, i may have dropped him. I won't lie, with the emotional, physical state we're in now, and my itch do get back to Police work... He may have gotten hurt :) sorry, just being honest!

alrighty, see you all soon....

Greg

ps.. my father in law had surgery, and was not supposed to make it thru, but he did! he is doing well nowand we are sooo very happy! It was truly a miracle Sal is still with us, and... he was supposed to have been paralyzed in his arm but he has regained feeling, which is another miracle... wheeeeew, quite and emotional week for everyone!

did i mention i want to get the heck out of here?

He has landed.....

Where do I begin, what a crazy night!

Here’s the play by play... we left the hotel at 430pm, and headed to the court house to pick up the final documents. To our delight, none of Andre’s family decided they wanted him in the past 10 days.. Wheeew! Then we drove to the orphanage. Now I should probably stop and tell you about how we were feeling right about then, and before we left. All day, Jeanette and I were nervous. Butterflies in the stomach nervous. The day dragged by, but went fast at the same time. WE baby proofed the room, got the crib. (Old playpen) 2 familes leave tomorrow, so we’ll get their cribs, real wood ones. But Jeanette and I wanted to get on with it! Enoigh already! But we were nervous. As we left I got kinda giddy, a nervous type giddy, and the ride to the orphanage seememd extra bumpy. Our facilitator said in beautiful broken English, “maybe you are more sensitive today”. And by golly, I think she was right. So, an hour later we got to the orphanage, and walked up to the playroom that we always go to, it was like any other visit. We got even more nervous. Andrey is usually the first once of (remember, we are travelling with the Swingles, and their boy Eli, is always late in arriving) So Andrey comes in with his caregiver and he begins crying, again, like a normal visit. We shove a goldfish in his mouth and bam! He’s our best friend. So the next mission is to put our clothes on him. Jeanette and I have been dreaming of putting him in American looking clothing, and getting him out of the orphanage gear. He let us re-dress him, except for the booties we brought for him, he crunched up his big Siberian toes, and held them crunched together the whole time. Like 30 minutes., we never did get those booties on, ever! So, we got him dressed, and guess who he looked like - -big bro Thomas! Speaking of T, we left him at our hotel in the good hands of Sheri Axtell, another american who is here and will get to bring her 3 yr old girl home next week. So by this time, Eli was here and getting dressed, and we were ready to go. WE felt better now, like we were actually taking Andrey home... It had been the end to a 18 month journey..So, we headed downstairs to leave, and the most touching/sad thinghappenend. Andrey’s caregiver showed up, wanting to say goodbye to him. He smiled and wanted to go to her, she kissed him, hugged him,and was crying. Basically what she said in Russian, we later found out, was she thought of Andrey as her own son, and loved him very much. You could see she was sad and would miss him. It was a very deep hurt.

So, we took him out to the van and away we went ! It was a great feeling, it was emotional, it felt like we had a kid and were bringin him home. Diiferent from a childbirth thing, but similiar. It was hard to explain.

In the van, Andrey looked at everything, as Jeanette fed him every few seconds. Imagine never seeing cars or anything, and the little guy is seeing it all for the first time. WE were trying to avoid a meltdown, and about 30 mins into the drive, a funny thing happened, Andrey out his thumb in his mouth and went to sleep. Thomas didn’t know he had a thumb until he tunred 3, so this was new for us. He slept all the way back... We did have a small incident in the van, Our new friend Eli got a little motin sick, and threw up a tad. I guess it’s prety common for that to happen. The whole van got a little “tangy” inside.
So we got back and took Andrey upstairs, he had woken up.

We got to introduce him to Thomas.

We walked in, and Thomas looked like he was a bit in shock. I guess it hadn’t really hit him until just at that moment. Also remember, Ole Thomas doesn’t do well after his bedtime has passed (it was now 800 or so. ) So we hung out for a bit and tried to feed Andrey some food. It only is fed pureed type things in the orphanage, so when we tried to mash up some steak and chicken, it didn’t really like it.. So we gave him yogurt and milk and that was about it. So Sheri left and it was just the 4 of us. It was weird, Jeanette and I had imagined him being here, but he actually was.... The I smelled it. Could it be? Our first with Andrey? Yes! It was a big pooper! That was fun, it had been awhile since Jeanette and I had changed one, so we tag teamed it.. Just like old times!

Then, it began.. The sibling rivalry. Andrey grabbed a train, and Thomas erupted. They went back and forth, Thomas just hated it.. I believe that’s when my lovely wife sat on my mom’s digital camera, and yes.. Sorry Grandma Sue, it broke!! We’ll take care of it...

So, off T went to bed, and that left me with Andrey. Thankfully we have a suite with 2 rooms. So I rocked him a little and figured, time for bed! Well, I put him in the crib, and he didn’t like it. He screamed, so after a few minutes, and after Jeanette told me to, I picked him up, and immediately his thumb went into his mouth and he dozed off... I laid him down, in the crib, and that’s all she wrote... he slept until 645am, and he popped up like he had always lived here....

Thats all for now... don't have much more time to write due to now having 2 active children in the room! and... Thomas is sick, but my lovely wife brought antibiotics, so he should be getting better...

Andrey is a handfull!! and its snowing and 15 degreees... we need Calif. badly..

Greg and Jeanette

ps.. my father in law is having surgery right now for a blood clot in his neck.. so keep him in your prayers please :)

Another day... getting closer..

Today is our last day as a threesome. Kinda weird if you think about it. It's like Jeanette is pregnant and we have been seeing ultrasounds everyday, and she's due, for sure, tomorrow. No walking to make sure the baby comes out, no having sex for the purpose of helping the baby come out. This one comes out "ready to go", like a furnished apartment, ready for action. We are enjoying being 3 today, but we're all ready to be 4. Tomorrow night we arrive at the orphanage at 6, he gets stripped down of all his standard orphanage issued gear, thankfully! and we sign some paperwork, and he is ours! should take 15 mins.

I spent some time with him yesterday, and we had fun. we flew around like superman, we fed each other goldfish, he then pretended to feed me, then took it back.. little tease! then he made up for it, by biting it in half and feeding half to me.. i thought it was a nice gesture on his part!

so today i went to the bank, they didn't like one of my hundreds because it had some writing in ink on it, a very small letter in ink... so, bring clean money here!! they are not kidding! then i strolled to the grocery store and spent 950... rubles... about 40 bucks, on groceries... need to stock the fridge for our hungry orphan when he makes landfall tomorrow night... the first 2 weeks they eat everything and anything, then after that, they become a normal 2 yr old.. they get picky! imagine that, 2 yrs in an orphanage, and in 2 weeks they forget the gruell, and begin turning away food! :)
spaking of gruell... it's like a porridge, something kinda of food...i hated it at first, but now it's a staple of my breakfast! i would pay 100 dollars for 3 eggs up, hash browns, sausage, oj, and coffee, right now! althought i had a wonderful cafe americano yesterday.. it may have saved my life ..

it snowed overnight, like 3-4 inches, that was nice to wake up to..

by the way... 5 below yesterday.. eeeeash!

so... thanks for hanging in during the wait period... it'll get good again once we get the little (big) guy.. enjoy the pics :).. and again, thanks for all the great posts, i love them!

-GD

TV, made in Russia

I have an idea for a new TV show in America. American Idol for strippers! Oh wait, they already have it here in Russia, dangit. No really, they do, its everything American Idol, but they are strippers with their pole. It’s on MTV Russia. Another TV show we discovered was one of my wife’s favorites, the Nanny in Russian. They copied it right down to the outfits. Very funny. I then switched over to AS Roma vs Real Madrid and was in heaven. I watched a movie yesterday, 300. Lots of fighting, and blood. I liked it. Jeanette visited Andrey yesterday while I stayed with Thomas. They had a nice time, but again, as I have repeated over and over, we are ready to bring the little Ruskie back and begin the next phase. We can’t really bond with him much more at the orphanage, we need to get him back here so he can start depending on us. At the orphanage, he is still comfortable because he is still in his “hood”. His eyes still light up when he sees his care giver. But that will change soon. We also heard for sure that we will be picking Andrey up for sure on Friday night. We’ll leave here at 5pm, arrive at 6pm, stay for 15 minutes and bring him back with us. So by 615, we will have Andrey out of his standard orphanage issued clothing, and into our lap for good. I’m sure I’ll have plenty to blog about once that happens. I washed some undies in the shower last night, that was exciting! I could use some fabric softener, but other than that, they are fresh! We had a chance to meet some American missionarys yesterday. The Winklers. They are from Visalia and have been living here for 5 years with their 4 kids. They picked us up and we went to their apartment, which was extremely nice. 3 bedrooms, looked very American. Thomas had a great time playing with their kids, ages 8 and under. They fed us, I actually had a sandwich with mustard on it!! I wanted to steal it from them!! Side note, I went to Subway here the other day, and the only spread I was familiar with was mayo, so I had only mayo on it.. But it was actually pretty close to the american version. Cabbage instead of lettuce, but not bad. So, the winklers, it was good to sit and visit with them, it was like having a little slice of America in Russia. We enjoyed it. They are actually supported by Shadow Mountain Baptist church in Morgan Hill.. Small world.... I snowed a couple days ago, which was nice, and after that it got cooooollld. Today it is about 10 degrees. I haven’t been in weather that cold, ever, so it was a new experience. Last night while we were out, the wind picked up, and both Jeanette and I thought our ears would just crack right off if someone touched them right. It’s supposed to get colder this weekend, so hello Siberia! Today I’ll go see him while Jeanette stays with T. We met another couple from california today. (Pleasanton), so that was cool. They are on their first trip. Boy does that seem like a long time ago when we were on our first trip. Let’s see, anything else? We have just been hanging out, waiting, walking. We went out to eat at a German place last night. Had a fun time. Thanks for all the posts.. short sleeves and 70 degrees sounds really good right now. Well, see you all soon...... Greg