The day we thought would never come

We have felt every emotion on the spectrum. From elation to frustration, from glee to terror. What an incredible ordeal it has been getting these two boys home!! But we made it. We both ask ourselves, "who exactly were those two people that just got through that?" Surely not us. We would not have been able to go 27 hours without any sleep while navigating three airports, two shuttles, two customs offices and an immigration office that was so full they wouldn't guarantee us making our flight three hours later. Not to mention the flights. Really. Let's not mention the flights.

We got off the plane in Kansas City to a group of well wishers from both sides of the family, and also our beloved Parracks who helped prepare us for this whole experience. How amazing it was to reunite four little boys who spent the first two years of their lives in a Siberian orphanage, and will spend the next fifteen or so in Kansas growing up together under rooves filled to overflowing with love.

We really don't know where to start or how much to offer about our travel adventure. You know how women don't talk much about how painful childbirth is? Maybe we'll take the same approach. The eleven-hour flight from Moscow to Atlanta was just too much for all four of us. Very little sleep for Carson and Conner, and none for their folks. Lots of sweet people who helped when they could.

It really was fantastic to get off that plane in Atlanta. But the happy feelings were short lived, because we had to pass through customs (the mean lady that snapped at us about going to the next line because she was starting her break will never know how wrong that was to say), then claim our bags only to lug them through immigrations and re-check them. At immigration, we sort of felt like we were on Ellis Island. All forms of international people just waiting to get their names called, and giving us dirty looks when our names were called ahead of theirs...

We were lucky enough to get the bulkhead to Kansas City, as we had from Moscow to Atlanta. That is a story in itself, but this blog is getting too long. The boys slept straight through the Atlanta flight and when we touched down in KC, there were some quiet tears shed by both new parents.

Have to mention one amazing thing that happened the day before we left. The FIFA world cup for women was going on, and several teams stayed in our hotel. The boys met a large contingent of the Nigerian women's national soccer team and won their hearts! They also met some of the Chinese team. Such worldly little fellas. The Nigerians took lots of pictures which we hope to get copies of.

Now that we're home, we're getting a very painful crash course in parenting. The boys are doing as well as can be expected, and even that is not enough to keep us from feeling completely overwhelmed. The tantrums and meltdowns are tempered by some amazingly sweet moments of them realizing that we are now a family. This morning, during breakfast, Carson was a little unhappy so Conner held his hand through the rest of the meal. It melts your heart.

Thanks for all your well-wishes. You have helped in ways you'll never fully know. Our initial adventure is over and our new, less unique adventure begins. Can't wait to introduce Carson and Conner to everyone!!

Friday it is!

So very sorry, no pictures. Had to get friendly with the business office staff in order to access the internet. We made it to Moscow, and sure enough, we get to leave a day early! Thank goodness we bought those changeable tickets. All flight info is identical, just one day earlier. So we'll be in the airport at 8 p.m.ish Friday.

Oh, boy we are ready for home. The Kras flight was all we expected. Hot, crowded, and not a fun trip for the boys. Rochelle had one of those experiences we've heard about where the child seems to explode from behind in the miniature, inadequate bathroom. We'll spare you the details. Amazingly enough, Carson has become the difficult one and Conner the sweet one. They have been both angelic and demonic throughout the entire process, completely exhausting their new parents.

The good news in Moscow was a room upgrade. We got a nice big suite. It helped so much yesterday to come to the room after the terrible flight and have a wonderful shower and put on a fancy Marriott robe. Still had to run all over the suite after the boys, though. They are already treating us more like parents and less like caretakers. There are some unbelievably sweet moments in between the temper tantrums. Both boys run up and hug each of us. Conner is speaking all kinds of English, and Carson is now showing that his prize winning smile can often mean "I know what I'm doing is wrong, but if I smile and giggle, you'll let me get away with it."

Our embassy visit went smoothly with the exception that one document had not made it from D.C. today. So our contact will return there tomorrow to get it for us, and we'll be all set to leave Friday mid-day. This has been an incredible adventure and an incredible test. Can't wait to get home and start our new lives. Thanks to all of you for sharing this with us, and keeping us going with your comments. See you soon!

WE ARE COMING HOME!

Hello everyone! Conner, Carson, Rochelle and Curtis are all very anxious to come home. Ok, Rochelle and Curtis are anxious to come home. Conner and Carson are just anxious. It seems like yesterday that we first got here, and at the same time it seems like 100 years. It has been an incredible adventure and an incredible test.

Very sorry we haven't been able to share much with you since the boys became ours full time. Our camera bit the dust, but we have some great video of them learning to enjoy our little hotel room. The boys have been testing us, and we've had several tantrums. Most from Conner, however Carson has shown us his devilish side too. Amazingly, the most successful toy has been the empty 5L water jug and some random items to put in it. Hours of entertainment!

Here we are throwing coins in the beautiful fountain out front. They are thrown in order to send wishes of good health to our dear friend Jana. We can't imagine how much stronger wishes can be, since they were thrown with the love of two very sweet boys...and there were fifty of them thrown! Nazdrovia, Jana.

We just picked up the boys' passports, and in one hour we leave for the Kras airport. It is with MUCH intrepidation that we take these little guys for their first flight. We tested the Benedryl on them, and they did fine, so they may get some this morning. If we ever needed good vibes, we need them now!

Hoping to post when we get to Moscow. We still have no idea whether our flight home will change or not. Those of you who check this blog will be among the first to learn if the arrival time and date changes. Let's hope it does, because we are ready to be home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The First Marsh Family Photo

This is taken at Carson's orphanage...we are ready to go!

Leaving the "home" for "HOME"

Here is a picture of us in front of Conner's Orphanage with one of his nurses. He NEVER has to go back to this place!!!!!!! Indeed we are thankful that they took care of him, but now it's our turn. We are still doing well. There was only the glimpse of a nap today, so we are expecting them to be sleepy tonight and they are CRANKY right now!

Conner has the most amazing memory. He LOVES to play with the room key. We hid it from him last night, but whenever he gets angry, he goes back to asking for that key. AMAZING!!!

Carson is still just running around being cute. Whenever Conner has a melt-down, he tries to help. He brings him things hoping that it will help.

We are having major camera difficulties. It fell off a chair and is now out of commission, so please be patient with us, we will figure something out. We leave Tuesday morning for Moscow!!! Can't wait to be HOME!!!

The boys are finally ours!

What an incredible day it has been! We are finally updating the blog as our two boys sleep soundly in the next room after six straight hours of play. Our hearts have absolutely been stolen by these two little ones. Our camera has chosen a very bad time to become finicky, so you’ll have to wait a bit for better pictures.

The process of getting the boys took much of the morning and mid afternoon. We went to sign papers and pick up birth certificates first. Different offices for each boy, and of course, on opposite sides of town. A little after noon, we went to Conner’s orphanage and picked him up. He was enthralled by the view out the car window, and was an angel the whole way to the second orphanage. His first English words were car, truck, and bus…

Picking Carson up was a bit of a chore because a document was missing. Not one of ours, but one of the orphanage’s. That did not pose a problem, just caused a delay. They took the clothes we brought and put them on him, just as they had done for Conner. The little guys each came out in their American duds, and we melted! Whisked both boys off to get their passport pictures which went…ok. Then brought them back to the hotel.

For all our worrying about how they would behave at the hotel, they were great, great, great!! Conner had two melt-downs early on, but was actually the better behaved of the two the rest of the day. Carson was devilishly cute, and flashed his big smile every time we tried to tell him NO. But overall, they behaved beautifully.

We took them outside halfway through the day, and they enjoyed the fountains, the pigeons, and all the activity in the park. We brought them back to the room for dinner, put them in their strollers, and they ate like refined little gentlemen! We, however, did not eat anything between breakfast and a midnight snack…

Putting them to bed turned out to be the icing on the cake. Really! At about 9 p.m., both boys started slowing down. We each took one, sat on a little bench in our bedroom and rocked them both to sleep in our arms. Oh, my gosh it was wonderful. We set them both in their cribs and they’ve been out ever since. We have a little more child-proofing of the room to do before bed, but we are ready to be there when they wake up in the morning…which should be about 7ish…whew!

We’ll post some more pictures asap, and some more details of our first experience as parents. Words really can’t express how amazing today has been.

Today was a very big day. First and foremost, we got the news late yesterday that we’re leaving Kras a day early! We’re not sure whether that means coming home a day early, but it does mean Conner and Carson come to the hotel with us on Saturday! We will be full time parents in less than two days!! We move into a bigger room tomorrow in order to have more space when the boys come the next day. Oh, my!

We will not see the boys tomorrow, but that will give us time to move rooms and prepare for their arrival. Today, we saw where each boy sleeps, eats and plays. We saw both groups of children they live with. Carson’s group is the “Snowmen” and Conner’s is the “Blue Bells.”

We had a nice time with Carson first thing. He was walking around the play room more than he ever has. And we decided to try out the piano! He did not hit it hard. Good boy. He was so sweet with us, showed us his play room and his fellow Snowmen. The kid is truly a heartbreaker.

Wouldn’t you be unhappy if you slept here and had to wear such a ridiculous outfit?

Holy cow, they put a technicolor outfit on Conner today. He could have lit up the night with that shirt. The poor guy has a rash on his face, probably from a mild food allergy. He is pictured here showing us his bed in a room of 13 others. He was afraid that it meant bedtime, so he was especially unhappy. We can’t wait for the US doctors to clear up his rash. You can’t tell by the picture, but we had a good day with him too.

As if it hasn’t been enough of an adventure already, the crazy part is about to begin. How will these two behave together? Will they sleep at all? And before we know it…the travel! We’ll let you know if it looks like our arrival home is moved up a day.

Start 'em Early!

Today we saw both boys again after a day off yesterday. Carson didn't cry when they brought him to us this time and he also let Curtis hold him! A couple big improvements. He is getting so much more comfortable with us and seems so much less scared and shy. When we tickle him he giggles and shows all of those very white teeth that he has!

Don't they look alike!

These two do NOT look alike...

Hopefully this is practice for Mowing our lawn!

Conner had a good day also! We were outside the entire visit. He had on tights, jeans, 2 shirts and a jacket, but at least it wasn't a snow suit and it was mostly boy colors! He watched the trash truck empty the dumpsters with much interest. We think he could have watched that all day. We had better conversations today, he talked mostly of "Motov" and "AvtoBus" Cars and Trucks! He seemed much less frustrated today, perhaps his chest feels better, although he had a new rash on his face. It also helped that we were understanding him a little better.

We are still doing well health wise. The weight loss has slowed with the addition of the hot pot and Russian chocolate! Rochelle swears her hair is falling out, but this might be a motherhood thing! Mostly we just sit around and wait to visit the boys and read your coments!

New lessons every day!

So nice to see the boys again on Monday! We learned a valuable lesson with Conner. He seems hell-bent on taking every toy out of whatever shelf, bin, cabinet or box that is holding them, and we couldn’t seem to get him to put anything back. Then we discovered that as soon as every toy was in a pile on the floor, he was just as focused on putting them all back! Above, you see him putting a wide assortment of toys into a little swimming pool.

We learned something new about Carson too. He can handle the sippy cups! We know they don’t get sippy cups at the orphanage. They have to drink from regular mugs. Carson learned almost instantly how to drink water from the sippy cup. And stared at his Mummy with those big brown eyes while doing it. Good boy!

It is actually Tuesday now. (We’ll catch up on our blog dates tomorrow). Our friends the Schmidts had a successful court date. They were with us on our first visit to Kras in April, along with the Krafts. We were so pleased to see the Krafts’ boys at the orphanage yesterday and were excited to email them and say they looked great.

Couldn’t go to the orphanage today because of all the court hearings. We ventured out into town instead, and had a great self-guided tour. Saw the town’s main cathedral and it was gorgeous! Couldn’t take pics though, sorry. Back to the orphanage tomorrow for our little kiddos!

Sunday's blog on Monday

Today, we welcomed our friends the Schmidts to town. They arrived at 8:30 a.m. and were greeted with much the same challenge we were. So we spent some time helping them get word to the states that they needed a random document delivered very quickly in time for court in two days. We tried to be a calming influence and explain that the feeling of panic will subside and the paperwork issue will be resolved.

The Krasnoyarsk project room

Here you see some fine jewelry being created as gifts for the orphanage workers, while Rochelle watches tv. A partially finished bracelet can be seen on the bed if you double click the picture. But what may be most impressive is the bead organizer being fashioned out of a tooth paste box! We have definitely built an alliance, and will not get kicked off the island.

We took a 3.5 hour tour today with Merena, the interpreter whose car was in Friday’s blog. She took us to some beautiful sites on a most beautiful day. It was in the mid 70s!

Kras is the second largest city in Siberia. About a million people. The town is named for its red stone hills stretching down to the river. Krasnee is the word for red and Yar is the word for slopes. The Yenisey is the deepest river in Russia. Our guide said it was the “wateriest.” Amazingly, it runs south to north. South of the town is a large dam that provides electricity to a huge area of the region. This dam is featured on the 10 ruble bill, along with the chapel pictured below that sits high on a hill overlooking the entire town.

It really was a great tour. It will be so important for us to be able to tell stories of Carson and Conner’s hometown. The details of today’s tour will be documented in the journal we have in our hotel room. We talked about the city’s history, its landscape, its leaders, and even a little bit of our guide’s perspective on the process of Russian adoption.

Tomorrow we see the boys for the first time since Friday!

Roughing it in Siberia

The “Tony Parrack Designs” clothes line is perfect for our shower!

Ah, our first day in Krasnoyarsk with nothing significant on the schedule. Today, we thought we’d introduce you to our world in the Kras Hotel. Where you dry laundry in the shower! You brush your teeth with bottled water. You make a double boiler out of a hot pot and a bowl thieved from the breakfast room…

It was a big day yesterday, when we discovered quite a treasure in the “mall” across from the grocery store (props to the Parracks for suggesting it). We went in search of a hot pot. There had been sightings of them in the hotel, but we were simply unable to get anyone to understand we wanted it. One couple has one in their room, but it has been…over-used.

We scoured the mall, and were unsuccessful. Dejected, we made our way to the exit only to find it had started to rain. “Ok, let’s just browse around again until it stops.” We walked into what looked like a lamp store, and Hallelujah! Two full shelves that spanned the length of the lamp store of Hot Pots! The angels sang. They truly did. Now we can make gourmet Hot Pot feasts in our room. We can have hot tea. The hot tap water stinks, so now we can boil the cold water for laundry purposes. It will change our lives.

The hotel cat has no qualms with Americans.

Sweet little kitten (keesa in Russian) enjoys our attention and reminds us of our kitten, Mujibur. Hope you’re doing ok, Muji!

Some of the other couples have been getting sick, and we think hydration is at least half the issue. So, we’ve been guzzling the Bonaqua (Russian version of Daisani). We found 5 liter bottles at the store for just over a dollar, so we buy one and transfer it to our smaller bottles using a tea kettle.

At times we feel like we’re on Survivor, just trying to keep from getting kicked off the island. There are days when the island doesn’t seem worthy of keeping us, but we will do what must be done to bring the CNM boys home safe and sound. Thank you all for your sweet words of encouragement in your comments. It keeps us going.

The roller coaster continues

Carson is warming up to that big guy that plays with him.

Today we were able to go and see the boys again. Carson was great again. He always cries when the nurse that brings him in, but it has been less every day. Mommy scoops him up and starts rubbing his back and he is done with the crying. Today, it felt like he might have remembered us, and he acted like he might cry when he had to leave with the nurse. He is SO smart. We know that parents always think that of their kids, but he can do all kinds of little tricks that we had not seen before.

Don’t they have anything in Boy Colors???

The “Distracting Couple” was still at Conner’s orphanage, so we played outside again. The orphanage workers added a coat to the snow suit this time. He was SO hot, he kept trying to take everything off. I think that he might not have felt well today, he was more subdued and his chest just gurgles. It’s awful to hear. So far, he still doesn’t understand that we are parents. We are just two people that keep hanging around, entertaining him occasionally, and stopping him from doing some of the crazy stuff that he wants to do. He is also very smart and knows how and when to thwart our efforts. We are very worried about how to handle him, both now and on the flight home. We had an interpreter with us today, so he talked much more than we had ever heard.

We’ve heard the news about the terrorist plots, and are pretty concerned about how it will affect our already daunting trip home. We are also concerned for the families that leave today (in a few hours) to come to Kras. Please make it here safe!

We start each morning reading your comments. Thank you for every one of them. Your comments and our ice cold Cokes are our only comforts of home!

Hello from Siberia!

We hear that it is still terribly hot back home…it’s pretty cool here!
This picture is a little deceiving. These people really love to bundle up these kids! Our poor little guy was all hot and sweaty under all those layers.

We have made huge strides with Carson. We can get him to giggle and move around and smile. We can’t get enough of this kid’s smile. We get to the orphanage at 8:15 a.m., so we think he is still half asleep when we arrive. Erin, our massage therapist friend will love this…he LOVES to have his back rubbed and scratched, not like a little rub, but rubbed really hard. It makes him just melt and smile!

The picture above shows a rare quiet moment with Conner. We have had mostly good days with him, but did have a really hard day yesterday. They put us in a room with another couple and their 2 kids. They immediately offered him a bag of cheerios, which he plunged his hand into and took a huge handful and then crammed in his mouth. This after the orphanage doctor told us not to introduce new foods for awhile due to a rash. They also had tiny latex ballons and a bowl full of bubbles. Things you don’t give kids…

For the next 2 hours all we did was wrestle with him and try to keep him from going back over to the side of the room they were on. He wanted more cheerios, and we couldn’t let him have them. It was total over stimulation and melt down. Whoever has a copy of “The Strong Willed Child” I need that as soon as we get off that plane! This kid is a pistol! Today we played outside to avoid the same situation and had lots of fun.

We are getting really creative with the food. We have devised a way to make ice cubes for my afternoon Coke. We have also figured out that if you get really tiny thin pasta, you can cook them in the hot water out of the water cooler/heater. We think we have located the “mall” and might see if we can find a hot pot. This would make life a little easier.

We should go back to the orphanages tomorrow, but won’t be able to see them Saturday or Sunday. Hope to post again soon, and tell you about life in Kras. Conner and Carson send you all a big hug and kiss!

"Congratulations, you are parents!"

See our cheesy grins? That is the look of a couple that has just successfully completed a very stressful court hearing. We made it!! Carson Nikolai and Conner Naum are officially our sons! It has been a three-day emotional roller coaster, but we have made it through like all of you said we would, and now we are the parents of two beautiful little boys.

The adventure began with the doctor’s license fiasco. Thank you Tony and Catharine for the amazing job you did tracking down the document and sending it so quickly. It was nerve-wracking to spend the whole day yesterday wondering if that document would make it in time. Even more scary when we discovered that Rochelle’s doctor’s license had the same issue! Don’t tell anyone though, because we must have been the only ones who noticed!

Add to the drama, there was a new prosecutor on the scene, and she was not accepting anyone’s American psychiatric evaluations. Those of you who have been with us through this process know how infuriating it has been to deal with all of the mental health hoops. Now we were told that the court decision would be delayed in order for us to see an in-country psychiatrist ($400 fee…) Well, the good news is that for all our stress and fear and trepidation, the court date arrived and we breezed through it. We even got some serious pats on the back for our performance. We would love to go into more detail about the court hearing, since it was the biggest hurdle of this whole process. But suffice it to say, when the judge read her final decision after 1.5 hours, and said, “Congratulations, you are parents!” we laughed and cried at the same time.

We want to show you pictures of yesterday's visit with the boys, but we are having a tough time with the Russian computers and the inconsistant wi-fi. Plus, we're really tired!! More soon, we promise. Miss you all!

--Rochelle and Curtis

Here We Are!

Above: the legroom on Delta's exit aisle.

Below: the legroom on Kras Air!

Well, we made it! It seemed a little less painful this time, maybe because we know the drill by now. The flight was LONG, but FAR better than the JFK to Moscow flight we had last time, for a lot of reasons. Mostly because of the magical "EXIT" aisle.

Very little sleep on the flights. I actually went back to one of the few valuable lessons that I learned at Lansing High School...I just put my head down on the table in front of me and slept about an hour that way. We were thrilled to see Max the driver again, and have now met up with the other couples from our agency here at the Hotel. There is an issue with the hot water, but we are told that it is easier to get hot water at night. Also, we are told that it should only be a problem for a week. We are waiting to meet with Yelena, our social worker, and find out what time we will be going to see the boys tomorrow. Then tomorrow night we are to be prepared for court.

There is a pretty serious wrinkle...Curtis' letter from his physician is dated May 27, 2006. Dr. Stuever's license expired on June 30, 2006, so we waited for the new licence to come and had that notarized and apostiled. Now, we have no proof that the Dr. had a license to practice medicine at the time the letter was written. SO, our dear friend Catherine is going to have to spend her Monday in the car driving around and getting an old copy of the license scanned and e-mailed to us, then notarized and apostiled and then FedExed to a couple who leave for Kras on Friday. Hopefully, this will not delay us. VERY scary to get to Russia and be told you do not have a piece of paperwork that you MUST have! We are pretty freaked out, but nice to know that Catherine is on the case :)

The weather is beautiful! It's perfect!