Day 25

Today is Saturday.  The weather is so much cooler that it is hard not to find a reason to smile.  I must have told Rachel 40 or 50 times how nice the weather is today.  Praising God!  Though we woke up late, we made it to the bus stop in record time.  The other adoptive family that is here couldn't join us at this time, but Rachel and I still went to the baby house.  Just as we got to the bus stop, the bus we needed, 110A, pulled up.  Talk about perfect timing. :)

It was so nice to see the boys after court.  Now that I am officially their Mama, it feels different to see them.   Not that I didn't feel in my heart that I was their Mama from the moment we met them, but now that we have declared to the judge that yes these boys have value, yes we want them to be part of our family, and yes we will love them always-- it feels more certain that these boys are here just temporary.

After the 10 day mandatory waiting period, we will get to leave the baby house with the boys forever!

They are orphans no more!

When we first got to the baby house we asked for the music room key.  When we got up there, it was very hot and I didn't feel brave enough to help ourselves to the air conditioner.  Thankfully one of the caretakers understood what I was politely asking for and they turned it on for us.

Nolan and Oliver were very excited to see us.

We tried painting with Nolan with Crayola Mess Free Color Wonder Fingerpaints.  Trust me, it wasn't mess free.  If you call getting a petroleum like goop all over everything you touch "mess free" then you're crazy. :)

 Thankfully I happened to buy some wet wipes at the open market right before we got there.

With John nowhere in sight, Nolan was definitely testing the waters this morning.  He spilled out his water-- twice.  The second time I gave him a 2 minute time-out on my lap.  After that he was fine with the water.  Then he hit Oliver (not hard but still) and I reminded him that we don't do that.  About five minutes later, he hit Rachel.  That was another time-out on my lap.  This time it wasn't as pleasant as the first one since he realized I wasn't playing around. After that I didn't see anymore hitting.  Then the other adoptive family came with the little girl they are adopting.  Things were going fine until Nolan did something again that he knew he shouldn't.  I had him sit on my lap for a third 2 minute timeout and this time he had a meltdown.  I think a light bulb went off when he realized I meant business. He started crying loudly, but I remained firm.  After I let him off my lap he continued his little tantrum on the floor.  It wasn't really even a tantrum but more like a lay on the floor in total defeat and sulk fest.  I picked him up and asked him if he wanted to go back to his groupa since I know that he enjoys being with the other kids and is probably tired of hearing me speak horrible Russian/ English to him.  He nodded yes, and I told him that after he helped put away the toys we would go.  At first he didn't want any part of it, but I kept up the expectation that if he wanted to go back to his groupa he needed to help clean up.  After a minute, he decided to help and then I told him we could walk back to his groupa.  I asked him to hold my hand, which he had no problem doing.  We walked back and he gave me a hug and blew me a kiss.  Any hard feelings were long forgotten as we blew kisses to each other.

Even though it was not easy, I was incredibly happy how the visit played out.  I know he is testing me and learning what is and what is not acceptable.  He is very smart and wants to know exactly what the boundaries are.  I think that is wonderful.  I prefer he do it now rather than doing it all on the trip home.

I got to feed Oliver again and love on the other babies in his groupa.   That room is sure loud at feeding time.  This may sound crazy, but I can't wait to hear Oliver's cry.  I have heard almost every other baby's cry, but not Ollie's.  He is such a content baby from what we can see.  That, or he has figured out that his cries go unanswered.  Either way, I can't wait.

After our visit and a rest back at the apartment, Rachel and I went to the big open market.  We found some great deals on coffee, candy for the kids back home, and deodorant.  With the cooler weather we actually took the time to explore more of the open market.  We found the pet section with live birds and guinea pigs, and the fishing section.  We found the huge home improvement section too!  I plan to take lots of 

pictures. . .  now if I could only figure out how to upload them to my computer.