July 23rd, 2007
Ryan and I are anxiously waiting for our last connection to Moscow. We left DFW yesterday, to make our long-awaited trip to meet Korbin. We received his referral on July 5th and now, less than 3 weeks later, we are on our way to meet our son! It all
happened so fast - thank goodness! I don't know how much more waiting I could have handeled!Unfortunately, Ryan is sick. Two days ago he started feeling back. And, with our quick trip up to Noel to visit some of the Burke clan and all the packing for this trip, we did not have time to go to the doctor. He's trying to get some rest and drink lots of water/juice. Hope that does the trick... cause that's all we can do!
I am so excited to meet Korbin, again. That's right, I already met the wonderful little guy on my last trip. They showed me a cute little baby boy and allowed me to hold him. At the time, I was not sure if we would receive his referral. Now, 5 weeks later, things will be totally different. I'll be holding him as my son! Hopefully we'll have a quick court date so that we can get him home!
July 24th, 2007
We are on the train headed to the region. Woohoo! This morning we slept in as long as possible (mainly so Ryan could get better) and then walked around the mall next to the hotel. We plan to do sight-seeing when we return from the region in a few days.
We are both very excited to meet Korbin tomorrow! Once we arrive in the region we will hit the ground running! Our first stop is the Ministry of Education to get our official referral. Then, we head over to the orphanage to meet him and officially accept him. Then, off to the doctors appointment. No hotel check-in or shower until all that is complete. Fun.
July 25th, 2007
Our first moments with Korbin... he slept and we pushed the baby carriage around the building. We laughed at his snoring and because we tried several time to wake him up unsuccessfully. He's a deep sleeper! Finally, after about 4 laps around the building he woke up. He looked at us both. First Ryan, then me, then Ryan, then me... Very confused. We took a few pictures and made him laugh a little. He tugged at the camera bag strap. Our translator came over and took him away. We were interrupting nap time and would come back later when he was awake. As she pushed the carriage away, Korbin sat up and looked back at us one last time. How cute!
We went inside to talk to the staff about Korbin. They told us all about his family. Korbin was born on August 30th, 2006. His mother delivered him in the hospital and on the same day signed away her rights to him. Korbin spent some time the in hospital before coming to the orphanage (normal). He's been in the orphanage since he was 3 months old. They think his dad might be from Uzbekistan, but no one knows for certain.
Then, off to the Business Center to translate a few documents. Ryan and I were really tired and wanted to take a nap... but we stayed awake and alert and waited for our next visit to the orphanag. Finally, 4 o'clock came and we were ready to visit an AWAKE Korbin! :)
Waiting in the play room we were greated by a rested an fed little baby boy. Korbin was wearing a "violet" pair of overalls with a pink shirt, white socks with hearts, and purple shoes. We questioned his attire, but not long enough to prevent us from spending time with our son. Ryan held him for a few minutes as he studied our faces, again, and was introduced to a sqeeky chicking and multi-colored baby flashlight that we brought for him. The squeeky chicken was an instant hit! We played with Korbin for about an hour. We held him, made him laugh, and took lots of pictures. He loved being held and crawled into our laps anytime we set him on the floor. He can lift himself up and stand with support. He's very curious, outgoing and happy. He is a staff favorite. Everyone loves his crooked smile that exposes his 5 little teeth. The hour passed quickly and it was time to leave. This day we would remember for the rest of our lives. It's the day we met our son.
July 26th, 2007 (Happy Birthday, Beth)
Where do I begin?!
The translator made a doctor appointment for 8:30am at the clinic. We needed 8 signatures to prove our health. 9 am - no one. 9:30 am - no one. 10 am - no one. 10:15 - she finally arrived! By 10:30am we hit the town chasing down the other specialists we needed to sign off on the document. The specialists we needed were Neurologist, Endocronologist, Oncologist, Psychologist, VD Doctor, TB Doctor, Narcologist and Cariologist. The Oncologist appoinment was a little more thoughrough than expected. The doctor wanted full exams, and I mean full! This rather embarressing appointment took over an hour. We were concerned we would not get all signatures before our train departed at 7pm. Psychologist, VD doctor and TB doctor almost immediately signed the paperwork, putting us back on schedule. The last signature was from the Narcologist. They required a urine sample for some drug tests. Whew. Time to celebrate for completing a 7 hour FULL physical! Thank goodness no one drew blood! The cleanlyness of the hospitals was very questionable. Nothing seemed sanitary.
Once all signatures were aquired we headed to a restaurant for some much needed rest and food. We ate a 4 course mean and drove out to the orphanage for a last visit with Korbin. We needed to be reminded why we had to go through such a tedious process. One look at his smiling face and all that was forgotten (at least for the time we spent with him).
Today his outfit was green and blue (which we preferred over the pink). His blue socks allowed him to stand better than his clunky purple shoes from the day before. Korbin was full of smiles. He was very active and loved playing with an orange ball and, of course, the squeeky chicken. We each spent time holding him and took more pictures. He loved leaning back to get a new (upside down) perspective. We loved this not only because it made everyone smile, but also because it reminded us of our cat Marcus. He also loves being held upside down. I guess Korbin and Marcus will have plenty in common. :) We look forward to introducing them. We do not expect much out of our other cat, Sam. He's a grumpy old man that does not like change.
We said our good bye's to Korbin before we headed to the train station. We plan to back in about 6-7 weeks for our court date. After that, he'll be officially ours!
July 27th, 2007
We arrived back at the Radisson at 10am. We walked over to Arbat Street to have lunch at McDonalds and shop for some souveniers. We bought a beautiful memory box for Korbin to keep. We also purchased stacking dolls, ornaments and other small gifts. We spent about 3 hours strolling up and down the walking street. The rest of the afternoon we relaxed in the hotel room watching Viva (like MTV) music videos. Most of the songs were techno, which we like and don't hear much of in Texas. We bought sandwhiches and water at the supermarket for dinner. Trying to save money for our next trip!
I can't believe we'll be back here in a few weeks to get Korbin! Wow.
July 28th, 2007
Today we did some sightseeing. The translator's sister took us around Moscow. The Metro stations were very beautiful with marble, granite and many decorative elements. They were very very deep under the city (used as shelters during WWII) and are used by millions of people to get around the city.
The Kremlin was impressive. We visited 2 of the 5 cathedrals. Each had a beautiful display of iconic art dating back many centuries. We also saw the cracked bell and the largest cannon in Europe. Next we walked to Red Square. The term "red" was not chosen because of the color, it means "beautiful" in Russian. Of course, St. Basil's cathedral caught our eye at the end of Red Square. Olga told us that it was originally all white before they painted it in such a colorful manner. Many bride & groom couples were posing for portraits. We saw about 6 couples in Red Square.
Later, we enjoyed a nice dinner at the "Viking Boat Restaurant" (don't know the real name). The "boat" is on the Moskva (Moscow) River. Chicken and Lamb filled our bellies topped off with water (still - no gas... mineral water is way too popular). We have to wake up at 3:30 am to catch our flight home!
July 29th, 2007
Tomorrow we celebrate our 3 year anniversary and begin our wait for a court date. We hope that time flies by so we can bring Korbin home! Getting the house ready will keep us busy for a while! :)
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