Our 8th Anniversary...

Today we visited Harry in the morning. He and another little girl were the only two kids in his groupa when we entered. I didn’t recognize her, and Harry was sitting crying. The caregiver, one I’d never met before, immediately knew who WE were, and told Harry to go potty so he could visit with us. She went in there with him, and apparently promised him candy for his dry eyes, because he then followed her to the kitchen and returned 10 seconds later with one candy for each of us.

He only ne-hochayed for perhaps 3 minutes – til the camera came out. That did it, as usual. He played, laughed, watched a DVD (well mostly he pressed the buttons, turned the volume up and down, etc.) After about 10 minutes the same caregiver came in to check on us. Harry was busy in the opposite end of the sleeping room with Mike, and didn’t notice. I recognized the “blotche” in her sentence, which means cry, so I knew she came to check to be sure he still wasn’t crying. I waved her off with a smile, and got one in return. The time flew from then on, and at 11:30 as usual she returned for him. He immediately told her he wasn’t’ crying. She laughed and told him it was time to eat. RELUCTANLY he left, but not before giving us all big hugs. These days, when we he hugs us, I tell him I love him (in Russian) and when I do, he gives me a nice smile, and a big kiss!

From there we went in opposite directions. Levi took the #3 trolley back to the apt. with Skip, and Mike and I took the #3 in the opposite direction. We were meeting Irina at her office so we could all walk the few blocks, to Baby Home 1 and meet with the Head Doctor. We wanted to plead with him to allow us to make some arrangements to either Harry come out of the Baby Home either a couple hours a day, or a few days or week, or SOMETHING. Visiting the way we have been is just not working or any of us. He talked about the court hearing as well, and was quite encouraging. He feels it’s just a matter of time with the judge. She is dragging her feet and stalling, but he feels ultimately, our adoption will be finalized.

He didn’t tell us know, but said he had a meeting with the staff from the BH later in the day, and they would brainstorm. No promises of course, but anything is better than what we have now. Mike and I then took the #6 trolley towards the apartment, but stopped at store complex so I could find myself a hat. I didn’t find what I wanted, but settled on one that I can live with. We then bought some pastries at a kiosk before we walked the last 10 blocks home. It was the biggest, and best crème puff I’ve ever had. 11.50 rubles, less than 50 cents!

On the walk home it was cold, but nice. It started to snow. Not hard, but flakes that danced around. It was good to have the alone time with Mike since today is our 8th wedding Anniversary. 2 months ago we thought we’d spend it celebrating in Moscow. Well we’re in Angarsk, and we’re not celebrating as we thought we would, but all things considered, we still have much to be thankful for.

My husband is the BEST, and I can’t imagine my life without him! He cooked us all a "gourmet" dinner tonite - hotdogs, hamburgers, and french fries. Yep, were stuck in the middle of Siberia on our Anniversary, eating American junk food. Doesn't get much better! Right before we sat down to eat, Irina stopped by with a box of our favorite Russian Candies as an Anniversary Gift. Skip saw the box and said "Hey, we got one of those for Poppa, too!" He never could keep a secret.

The best gift though was the news she brought. Starting tomorrow we get to bring Harry home from the apartment from 10 to 4 each day! Finally a break from the routine! Skip was SO excited he ran over and hugged me! Once we did sit down to eat, after Skip said the prayer, he added a special thank-you to the BH staff, for allowing Harry to come to the apt. each day.

A real reason to celebrate after all!