Getting settled in

We are getting into a pattern at home, and overcoming some issues and facing new ones daily. Sasha went to bed without incident last night, so our strategy is maybe starting to work, but she is reverting on her toileting, which is very normal. MaryEllen is working with her during the day, but she is in a state where she doesn't seem to care if she goes in her pull-up.

Thursday was Dr. day and we had a good check-up. Both girls were very good considering what they went through. They took blood and checked them out thoroughly, and everyone seems to be healthy.

We have been getting outside the last week as temps have been in the 60's. The girls love the park, especially the swings, and seem to fit right in to our neighborhood. There are lots of kids of all ages.

Dasha is walking better each day, and can walk 10 - 20 yards without falling sometimes. Sasha is starting to say some things in English, mimicking me and MaryEllen. We think she is understanding quite a bit already, but just not speaking. She is still rambling in Russian, and I can only imagine her thoughts as we have a dumb look on our faces and don't do what she wants. That will all change quick enough though.

Each day is an adventure. Chinese tonight, and Sam's tomorrow. Yea.

Home at last

We finally made it home, and just a bit tired. We decided to stay in Chicago at my sisters Sat. night. They fed us a home cooked meal, and helped us with the girls so we could rest a bit. It was a good transition. We made it home Sunday afternoon and after a bit of unpacking, grocery shopping and baths, we all fell asleep by 8:15. Today I am back to work while MaryEllen is home with the girls. I'm sure she will need a break when I get home. She was tired at 10:00am. While exhausted, we are fulfilled at being parents. We have two beautiful girls, who are inquisitive, smart, and testing all the boundaries. Sasha is doing a bit better about going to sleep, and Dasha is still teething, but is a trouper about it. Both girls did very well on the flight home, all things considered. Sasha is starting to parrot us in English after resisting for the last week. She is starting to understand us when we speak to her, which is remarkable. She is speaking much more now in Russian, but it is fun to hear her communicate. She is obviously feeling more secure with us everyday. Hopefully with the warm weather, we will get a chance to play outside and go for walks. We all could use the exercise after being cooped up for 4 weeks. We are learning so much together about being parents. Have you looked for infant cereal lately? There are about 20 different kinds. Who knows what to buy? And apple juice. Who would think there are so many kinds of apple juice. What is the difference? We just don't have time to look on the internet to research what is the best for our girls. We plan to make Dr. appointments this week for the girls to get them checked out and receive any instructions from the pediatrician. Thanks again to all of you who have prayed for us and helped us in so many ways to make this all possible. We hope to see you all soon and introduce you to our lovely daughters. Pete and ME

Leaving Kras

We leave Kras tomorrow early, starting out at 4:30am. We will arrive in Moscow at about 9:00am, and see the doctor for the girls before we can get visas. Tomorrow will be a busy day. We will have go nap whenever we get the chance. I hope the girls sleep on the plane.

Sasha has shown us she is not perfect by rebelling when it is time to sleep. She is definitely two. Dasha is still teething, but we are coping with this dilema. Perhaps by not having any teething medicine it will teach her to cope with the pain also.

We are having a great time with the girls, and even went to the mall yesterday and played on the slide. Sasha had so much fun. I think we tired her out. Now it is packing time, and off we go on to the next phase of our trip.

And then they were 4...

Well, it happened, they gave the girls to us. We picked them up at about 8:30am yesterday and everything went well. Dasha was a bit afraid, but neither girls cried or anything. Sasha fell asleep shortly after we got underway, and I had to wake her up when we got to Kras. Dasha fell asleep also, so everyone was well rested except Mom and Dad. Oh well, I guess we will get used to that. We had a nice day together, and everyone was asleep by 9:30pm. We all slept though the night just fine. The bed in the suite is much nicer than the one in our original room.

We had breakfast in the hotel this morning, and hung around the hotel as Dasha naps from 9:30 - 11:00, and then they both nap in the afternoon. When they wake up and have a snack, we will go out in the courtyard square and play some before going to dinner. It has snowed most of the day yesterday and today, so everything is a very pretty white. Not too cold, -2c today. We feel a bit tied down because of nap schedules, but plan to get out tomorrow around 11:00 with our interpreter to go shopping for more supplies.

We are so blessed with these little ones, we can't believe it. Sasha is such a gentle spirit, and Dasha is a smiling little girls when her gums don't hurt too bad. Each has beautiful eyes, and they sparkle in the sunlight. We have been looking out the window from the lounge, and the girls are just taking in every sight. There are so many things that they have never seen.

We have been playing simple games in the hotel. Sasha likes to play with some playing cards a friend gave us, and Dasha likes to practice walking, and eating anything her sister is playing with. Both girls are eating well, and adapting to us well. Dasha is a little fussy when we put her down for sleep, but Sasha lays right down and sleeps. If we had know this was so easy we would have done it long ago :) I hope to share some new pictures of the girls.

MaryEllen has been a great mom. We give her an A+ for her first day. It is evident that she has dreamed about this since she was a little girl herself. Papa is enjoying himself too. We are leaning so much already, and have so much yet to learn, but we are enjoying being parents together. God has truely blessed us more than we can imagine.

The final day...

We are two for one more day, and then we are 4 forever. Tonight we will pack up and be ready to change rooms to a suite tomorrow. We leave early to get the girls, around 6:30am, and have lots to do in the am. We then return to Krasnoyarsk and sign some papers and return to the hotel. The passports for the girls should be ready next week sometime, hopefully before we leave on Wed. Then we will have a birthday party for Dasha with our adoption friends, the Dunns, in Moscow before they leave for home on Thurs. We will get the physicals for the girls on Wed. afternoon, and start the visa application on Thurs. It will be ready for pickup on Fri, and home on Sat. Wow, we are starting the final stretch.

Our time here has gone very fast, thanks in large part to our many new American friends. Now we are the only adoption family in the hotel that we know of, but we have so much to do it doesn't really matter. We had a nice dinner last night, and will have our final dinner as a couple tonight before life changes for the better.

We went to the outdoor mall again today, and stumbled upon a really cool children's store right next door to the mall. It had everything, except backpacks for little girls. We thought Sasha would like a little bag to put things in after she showed us how she like to put things in bags and carry it around during our visits. For those coming to Kras in the future, you have to check out the outdoor mall area. You can find everything, and prices are great. They have a huge indoor section that has all kinds of meat, fruit, veggies, spices, nuts, dried fruit, and even a little pet shop. Just about 6 blocks from the hotel. A nice walk if there is not 6 inches of ice on the sidewalk.

The count down is less than one day now, so we are counting the hours. Really, we are too busy getting things ready, diapers, food, clothes, etc. One last trip to the grocery store this afternoon and I think we are ready. Praying for a smooth transition.

Das Vidanya

the final visit

We had our final visit today before picking up the girls on Saturday. The visit went well, with Dasha taking her first steps on her own for us. She is developing so fast. Looking back at pictures we took in Dec., she is really changing. Both girls came to us with big smiles on their faces, and appear to be more and more comfortable with us each visit. It had been 6 days since our last visit, so we didn't know what to expect today.

MaryEllen went with the girls to get their passport photos today while we were in Achinsk. It went well, but both girls were a little scared to be in the car. I hope this will make it a bit easier when we leave in the car on Saturday. We had some nice play time today as well, and when it was time for Sasha to go she looked back with tears in her eyes. I think she is falling for us as well. Hugging her first thing when we saw her today felt so right.

Today was very cold, -30c, which is -22f. Too cold to go out and do much, so we hope one of the next two days is warmer so we can go to the outdoor mall one more time. We need to buy diapers, food, juice, etc. to be ready for Saturday. Yesterday our translator took us to two malls, one a huge complex with nice stores, food court, bowling, and cinema. Then we went to a Chinese mall, where every booth was something from China. It was even run by Chinese people. Wierd to see Chinese Russians. We didn't buy anything, except pizza from Sbarros. Stores have prices much like the U.S..

Many of our new friends are leaving today and tomorrow morning. It will be sad to see them leave, but we look forward to meeting new friends this weekend, and of course spending lots of time with our daughters:) I think we will wait until we get the girls to post new pictures (without bows). Thanks for all the comments.

It is all worth it

We have been waiting patiently to make our next visit with the girls, but it has been postponed until tomorrow (WED). We are disappointed, but will not let this setback steal our joy. We are feeling a little low today after hearing about the change of plans. The last time we saw our daughters was last Thurs. But, the days are going by, and we only have 4 days left until the girls are in our arms forever. We continue to pray for health for both of us, as ME has some pain in her leg that makes sleep difficult. Last night neither of us slept well. The hard bed is getting to us. All this will be a blur some day when the girls are with us.

Today we are going to a mall to look around and check out a play room we may take the girls to next week. I don't know how much free time we will have when we get them because we will need to get passports Monday and Tuesday, and then we leave on Wed. morning for Moscow.

One of our new American friends had her son for one day before he needed to go into the hospital due to bronchitis. It was very sad for her to have to leave him, but we hear he is getting better. She is supposed to leave for Moscow tomorrow, so we pray that Kai is doing well enough to travel.

Another woman got in today to pick up her child. She is getting her daughter from the same orphanage we are getting our daughters from. We can't wait to see her and hopefully our daughters can see each other here. Sasha and her daughter are about the same age.

Sunday was "Woman's Day" and the whole country takes vacation, carrying over to Monday. The hotel was very quiet. Now things are picking up again. We met some missionaries from Campus Crusade for Christ at breakfast today. The three of them are here for a few days meeting with the local missionaries. Nice again to meet some Americans.

Although we have been staying busy, the time is starting to get to us. We are really anxious for Saturday. At the same time, we are a bit scared. We are hopefull that the transition will go good, and the girls don't have any major issues as they join our family. We were really hoping to get two visits this week which would help not only our baby fixes, but also help with bonding, but I fear that we will only see the girls once before Sat.

We have not figured out the video yet, but may work on that later today. We miss America, and look forward to introducing our new daughters to our world.

Seeing the sites

We have been busy these last few days, and look to stay busy for a while. The other day we took a bus to the ski slopes and took a lift to the top and went hiking around the mountain tops for about 30 minutes. Then we stopped in the lodge for some warm beverages. The scenes were amazing. Today we went to the flea market and looked at all sorts of things. They have great prices on fur coats! We did find some deals on some kids clothes, so bought some sandles for the girls, and some tights. We didn't find a lot of trinkets to bring home, but maybe that is ok.

Tomorrow we are going to the zoo, which is supposedly very nice. They have polar bears! Tonight we are having dinner with a new couple who just got in this week for their first trip. Lost luggage, but they go home tomorrow. Our other friends are picking up their son this afternoon. We are so excited for them. We will probably celebrate with them also tonight.

Yesterday we called my mom, and this morning we called MaryEllen's mom and dad. All were glad to hear from us, and don't have internet or email. It was so nice to talk to them and surprise them with a phone call. Apparently all the family from the east is so excited, especially MaryEllen's Uncle Al, and God mother Delores. All our friends and family can't wait to meet our daughters, and we are equally excited to introduce them. Don't think they will get spoiled, do you? We are counting the days, but having a nice time while we are here.

We are trying to put a video on the blog, so stay tuned for that. If it works, it is precious.

My girls, my girls, I'm talk'in bout my girls

We are putting new pictures on the blog. We had a great visit with Sasha and Dasha today. It was awesome being able to hold them close and know that they are ours. Dasha was walking all over the place today. Monday when we saw her last she was not steady standing but today walked!!! That's our girl!!! She was smiling up a storm and pulling toys out of the toy cabinet - Peter thinks she will be a handful. Sasha shared her Cheerios with her sister today and enjoyed playing with pictures and anything she could take out of mommy's bag. Mommy was happy to see Sasha take money out of Daddy's bag and give it to Mommy without Mommy even asking. She gave Daddy the bottle of water so he didn't get left out completely.

We don't see them for 4 days now because of the Woman's Day holiday - very BIG here. We'll stay busy until Tuesday with shopping, going to the zoo and seeing other sites.

Mama and Papa

Well, after 2 hours of grilling by the judge, she declared that the girls are our daughters. For the first time publicly, let me introduce to you, Alexandria Faith Falstad, and Darya Caroline Falstad. Pictures will come later. Alexandria (Sasha) has kept her name for the most part, and is named after MaryEllen's grandmother. Darya (Dasha) has kept her name and is named Caroline after MaryEllen's mother. We are proud to be able to pass on our family names to our daughters. That is a tradition in my family.

We were exhausted last night after a very difficult court hearing. Our judge was very difficult, and in our opinion, not very nice. I think she need Jesus. Without going into too much detail, she grilled me very hard on our taxes, and then attacked MaryEllen about her ability to care for Dasha. She was not supportive of us using child care during the day and going off to work. In Russia recently, more emphasis has been placed on mothers staying home for the first 3 years of the child's life. In the end, she ruled in our favor though, and we are now parents. We have to wait for the manditory 10 days until we go get our daughters, but in the mean time we will have the chance to visit them 2 - 3 times starting tomorrow.

We have met some wonderful Americans, and today we went up to the ski slopes and took the chair lift up the mountain. From there we hiked along a trail for about an hour, and then went in the lodge for a beverage. It was a wonderful morning of fresh air and great views. I was not crazy about the chair lift, but it was all worth it. We didn't know you have to put the rail down across your lap on the chair lift, and the guy was yelling at us in Russian to put it down. We figured it out in short time, and no one fell out of the lift. They don't have chair lifts in the flat lands of central IL.

We are looking forward to going to the zoo, the flea market, and the perhaps the opera while we are here. We have some time to burn. Krasnoyarsk is an interesting city, and we hope to learn more about the birth place of our daughters.

Next up is our visit tomorrow to the girls, our first as their Mama and Papa.

Here in Kras

Well, we arrived in Krasnoyarsk safe and sound. Our physicals went well, and really just a formality. We arrived here tired, but glad to have that step behind us. We are being told that our taxes need to be apostilled, so, some friends back home are helping us out greatly to accomplish this step in a timely manner. We were a bit frustrated, but after some rest and reflection we feel better about things. Our coordinator is working on translation of our taxes, and we will tell the judge Tuesday that the official copies are coming. We hope she will not put us off for a week which would extend our stay. Please pray! People are telling us that the judges are difficult some times, but to be prepared and confident. Our sinuses are giving us some trouble again due to the dry weather in the rooms. We both woke with sinus headaches this morning, just like we did in Moscow. Hopefully we will improve soon. The weather is nice, around 25 - 30 degrees. Nice and sunny out yesterday and today. We need to take advantage of it, because the weather could turn anytime.

We will be meeting our coordinator tomorrow morning (Monday) at 7 am to go meet with the girls for the first time in 2 1/2 months. We wonder if they will recognize us, and if D is walking yet. Met a new mother this morning who just got her daughter yesterday and she is 1 and walking. Met another mother who just picked up her daughter who is S's age. Court will be at 1:30 Tuesday, so we appreciate your prayers. Remember we are 13 hours ahead of Chicago. Blessings from Kras.