Day 9 - Ice, Ice Baby....(double click for pics)

An arm full of God's gifts!

Thursday, June 6th

We started our morning with a phone call from Nana (Brenda) ---followed by a phone call from Papa Bick (Bob) and Diane. Thanks to all of you! We cannot express how much we look forward to your calls!

After our phone calls, we began our usual morning routine, but we had a big surprise this morning! NO HOT WATER! Yes, that's right....I said NO HOT WATER!! This translates into....ICE COLD SHOWER!!!
Rylee opted out of showering this morning, and elected a bird bath! Bobby and I had no other choice than to take the polar plunge. Imagine bathing with ice water......that may begin to give you some idea of how cold this shower was. Until now, we have been trying to look past the rust colored water that runs out of the faucet everytime we turn it on......but, when you are sitting there waiting for it to get warm you begin analizing the situation a little deeper. So, to give you some idea of the water purity we will post a photo of what the water looks like when you first turn it on....anyone thirsty? Yes, we are brushing our teeth with bottled water!

After a very awakening shower, we headed downstairs to await our ride to the babyhouse. We were greeted with a perfect day. It is mid 70's to low 80's with a slight breeze and no clouds in the sky. By far, the most comfortable day we have had. Our visit went very well. No fireworks, and Landen's congestion seemed to be getting better. He is still coughing, but not nearly as bad. Today, he just seemed to want to be held---I would try to put him down on the blanket and he would start whining---he just wanted snuggle, so guess what?......We snuggled!!! We talked with him, sang to him and cuddled. We went outside for a short time, but our visit was cut short for a meeting with the doctor. We walked back to the music room and there were 5 women in there, and it appeared they were there to meet with us. They just went about talking and we thought we were waiting on Landen. Landen kept trying to fall asleep. We were holding him up, trying to tickle him and he still started to fall asleep. One of his caretakers was in the meeting, and she came over and picked him up and was trying to keep him awake, but even with all of her shaking him and bouncing him....he still fell fast asleep. She, finally, realized that we was just exhausted and took him upstairs to sleep. Then, everyone left the room! Wait...we were supposed to have a meeting! About 5 minutes later, Lena walked in.......appears we sat in on the wrong meeting and the doctor was awaiting us in her office.

The doctor's visit went very well. We found out that on June 19th Landen weighed 8 kilos and 290 grams (I'll let you do the math!), and was 79.5 cms long. They said on their chart he is average weight and 1 cm short of being average height. He is a very healthy child! He has been at the baby house since October 3rd. Before that, he was at the maternity hospital. He has tested negative for all diseases they test for. Since being at the baby house he has only had 1 other cold (other than the one he has now.) He has not been treated for any other illnesses, and has never had an antibiotic. Everything was very positive, and we got a medical statement to take to the Embassy for our exit interview.

After we left the babyhouse, we had a short meeting with our attorney. She said that she saw "the Chief" from the Regional Department of Education and he told her he was very impressed with us and he had no doubt that we would make great parents for one of the children in the babyhouse. Our attorney said she was so proud to present a family like us to him....we're surprised it took them this long to figure that out!!! (J/K--ha ha!)

Since it was such an incredible day, we decided to walk from the attorney's office home. We only had about 20 minutes before it was time to go back to the babyhouse. Our driver was about 20 minutes late...this is the first time that has happened, but we just waited patiently and enjoyed the beautiful day! Once we got to the babyhouse, we had a very short visit. We just went out to the playground for a few minutes and loved on him. All four of us watched several of the other groups of orphans play on the other playgrounds. It is so cute watching them...their curiousity gets the best of them and they just stare at us through the fence. After about 40 minutes we went back in and I took Landen up to his room. One day, one day soon I will not have to make this journey up those stairs anymore! I am longing for this day!

We are going to attempt to make some type of casserole this evening....wish me luck! I have very limited resources to attempt this feat, but Bobby has requested that I try. What a good wife I am...huh? If it is good I will let you know! For now...."Poka, Poka!" (That is Bye-bye in Russian)