And the beat goes on!

Introducing the newest additions to our family! I'll post a couple of pictures a day (when the Internet cooperates), but I'll hold off on clear views of their precious little faces until we're just a bit further along. Trust me, they are cute, cute, cute!

I love that Sully was in pink on our first day together. So was Max.

Glenn's metro-sexualness is on full display -- he is just as happy here as he is when Fina demonstrated some great hand/eye coordination when he was tossing the ball with her. We predict that she will have no problems standing her own ground when going toe-to-toe with Max.

I'm signing the paperwork to accept Sully's referral....

and Fina's referral.

Or, given that the paperwork is in Russian and Kazak, I also my be signing our house over to the baby house. I do look happy regardless, don't I?!

It’s Saturday morning in Ust, and we are getting on a roll here, people. It should feel like Groundhog's Day any time soon. We had a great Friday – although we still don’t have our sleep figured out. Fortunately, visiting two orphanages while hauling a cranky toddler along doesn’t really require astute mental abilities, but rather sheer perseverance, and caffeine really is a cure-all for many ills.

Stating the obvious here – it is so very different to visit with a 4-year-old than it is a 1-year-old. We’re thrilled that the order of our visits have been switched, so that we meet with Fina in the morning when our energy levels are better. One of us tries to engage with her at all times -- while Max is hanging on the other. My wise friend Pam suggested that trying to get everyone to engage at once was fruitless -- she coined Glenn as "the golden ticket" -- the person who could keep Max occupied while I bonded with our children." Except -- Max refuses to leave my side. So, instead, Glenn is doing most of the bonding! It's actually been really great to observe our children getting to know their Papa -- that is, when I can actually see something other than Max's face in front of mine. :-) I have full confidence that Fina and Max will be fast friends some day, just as I have full confidence that "it ain't gonna happen in Ust."

Fina will look at us if we speak to her, but she rarely utters a word while we are in the room with her. That’s okay … it will come with time. She will engage with either one of us (again, usually Glenn) in a partner activity, like tossing a ball, or sending the Batmobile back and forth across the floor. She loves coloring, and we brought her a little hair care kit (I am going to have to learn this lingo!!) and a little pink purse (thank you, Janet!), which absolutely thrilled her. We also got to see her recite her numbers when the social worker came in to visit with us, and it was so precious to hear her little voice confidently repeating her numbers. Our coordinator told us that the Director says she has come out of her shell in her group, and is now talking up a storm about the Mama and Papa that come to visit her each day, bearing special gifts. Whatever it takes, whatever it takes.

I managed to skip what has been a mandatory nap on Friday and I headed to the market while my boys rested. I feel so cocky and confident in Ust – I think I owe that to Matt and Suz, who dragged us everywhere with them when we were here together 2 ½ years ago. (Thank you, Ruleys!!!) I picked up several little things for our room – not only have I unpacked, but I am thoroughly nesting in our little suite. I even bought little baskets to hold our snacks from home. One of the smartest decisions we made (and we’ve committed our share of not-so-smart decisions, a listing of which is saved for a future post) is reserving a two-room suite at The Shiny River. In hindsight, we’re going to need that extra money (like, to buy a new car!), but having the extra space of a front room and a bedroom has kept us from body-slamming one another on a regular basis.

Our visits with Sully are short and sweet – one hour each afternoon at 4. While some people might be really disappointed with that, we are fine with it. We know that our real bonding will happen at home with him, and he is so easy going. The hour flies by as we play with stacking rings, cars, and any number of other things that we brought for him. He is stubborn and makes the funniest little faces (true smirks) when he doesn’t want to engage with us – but that little half-smile is almost always present. I think he might be an old soul already – can’t wait to see him emerge.

We had time for a quick dinner in the room, and them we were off to the hockey game in the arena up the street. It was the Ust “B” team playing what I think was the “B” team from Pavlodar. The tickets were about $2 a piece, and there were probably about 500 people scattered around what seemed to be a 5000 seat arena. Mitch and I both embraced it as if it were an NHL game – I’m sure the other 498 people in the stands (including our spouses) are still talking about those two crazy Americans who were yelling and cheering. Max spent the first period asking if it was over, the second period watching Olivia on his ITouch, and the third period paying close attention and announcing at the end, “I WUV hockey.” I think he would have been asleep in Glenn’s arms on the walk home if it were not for the fact that he was facing frostbite. It is cold, cold, cold here, but it felt so great to get out and about with the other two families. They are so loving and caring towards Max, too – I just can’t stop stating how lucky we are to be traveling with them!

A few additional random tidbits:

• Max has watched the same 13 episodes of Little Bear seemingly thousands of times. When he is not watching them, we are frequently re-enacting one of the episodes. I am typically Mama Bear, Max is Papa Bear, and Glenn is Little Bear. I downloaded other shows for him, but he is obsessed with Little Bear. If that gives him comfort to get through this month, so be it. (One of the smart decisions we made – two laptops and a portable DVD player).

• Along the lines of DVDs, I am working my way through Big Bang Theory – I’ve never watched it, and I was especially intrigued after one of the actors recently won an Emmy. I’m now part-way through Season 1, and would code the purchase of three seasons a “good decision”. Glenn is watching multiple things, including Johnny Carson highlight DVDs. Even when we were totally stressed at the beginning of this week, we had some great belly-laughs watching various animals poop on Johnny’s head. “Hey, our life’s not so bad – there could be a marmot crapping on our head right now."

• It is cold. Really really really really cold.

Hugs to all from Ust!