Home Sweet Home

We arrived home safe and sound in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday.  It felt really great to be home!  We managed to sleep for a few hours before heading down to Sarnia to pick up Meg.  She stayed with my brother for the first week and with Dave's sister for the second week.  We missed her so much and couldn't wait to see her!

In typical Shep fashion, the baby's room is complete.  Although we have several weeks before we return to bring Tyler home with us, Shep thought we had better put the crib up. 

Here are a few more pictures of our adoption journey:

 The first three pictures are from the orphanage - one is of the guarded entrance, one is of some children wearing diapers, sandals, and sunhats, and the other is of three walkers that the children used but are banned here at home.

The next three pictures are of Tyler - one is of him on our first day, one is taken midweek, and the last one was taken on our last day with him.

The remaining pictures were taken in Moscow - the first one is a snapshot of Arbat Street, and the remaining three were taken at Red Square (Gum shopping mall - all high end stores, Saint Basil's Cathedral and the onion domes, and the wall surrounding the Kremlin).

At this point we sit and wait for the phone call telling us our court date has been set.  We'll be sure to let you know when we get to return!

Thank you for all of your well wishes and messages along the way.

Last Day in Moscow - For Now

Here we sit in the hotel lobby using the free wi-fi, waiting to go to bed, and more importantly waiting to hop on a plane tomorrow to come home.

This morning we had to see two specialists - the oncologist and the neurologist.  The neurologist is the only specialist that actually did something other than ask us questions.  He checked our reflexes, made us close our eyes and touch our pinky fingers to our nose, and checked our balance.  The good news is --- both Dave and I passed!  The only thing left to do was in the hands of our translator/coordinator.  She had to spend some additional time getting signatures from the board of directors and the chief of staff. 

After leaving the clinic, we had our driver take us to Red Square and the Kremlin.  It was really quite amazing to see, especially Saint Basil's Cathedral.  We will post pictures when we return of the cathedral and the "onion domes."  We spent the remainder of the afternoon shopping for Russian hockey jerseys for dad and Tyler along Arbat Street. 

We will post some additional pictures when we get home this weekend ... after spending some much needed quality time with Meg and maybe enjoying our pool!

Medical Clearance for the Parents-To-Be

Today we spent our day running around between two different medical clinics seeing eight different specialists.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see all of them - we saved two for tomorrow!

The Russian government felt that Canadian parents-to-be did not take the medical piece seriously enough and would have their family doctor complete the necessary paperwork.  They felt that one's family doctor did not have the necessary skills to determine if parents-to-be were healthy based on Russian standards.  Instead, the government decided that Canadians should complete the necessary medical paperwork in Russia after being "seen" be eight different specialists.

Our day looked like this:
- saw a psychiatrist
- had blood drawn
- had an ECG
- saw the cardiologist (took our blood pressure and listened to our heart)
- had an x-ray done (to look for TB)
- saw the respirologist
- saw a few more people
- finished with the dermatologist

I know it looks quite impressive, but there were never any examinations that took place.  They merely asked us a couple of questions before signing and stamping a sheet of paper.  Of course, there was a small fee for each specialist!  Hmmm, it really doesn't seem much different from what a Canadian family doctor would have done! 

We're off to do some more sightseeing along Old Arbat Street.  It is a street that is closed of to traffic and has lots of stores and restaurants.  Tomorrow, we are going to see the Kremlin and Red Square.

Here are some more pictures:

The first picture is of Tyler on our last day with him.  The second picture is of Tyler on the first day with him.  The third picture is of the entrance to the orphanage.  The fourth picture is of one of his caregivers (we think she looks like "Mrs. Garrett" only with gold capped teeth).  The last picture of Tyler is also from the last day.

Arrived in Moscow

Hi Everyone,

We arrived in Moscow tonight and were quite relieved to find out it isn't nearly as hot as it was in Volgograd.  We managed to find a McDonald's to eat at and took a stroll down Arbat Street.  We are hoping to have more access to our computer since the lobby has free wi-fi.

See You Soon

Today was our last visit with Tyler this trip.

It was so hard to say goodbye. Needless to say I spent half of our visit crying. He looked so cute today - the caregivers had him all dressed up. He had a cute little golf shirt on and matching coveralls. We decided that today wasn't going to be about playing, instead we wanted to spend our time holding him, snuggling with him, and just taking in everything. We just spent the last seven days trying to capture "all things Tyler." We have lots of pictures to show and a ton of video, too.

Despite all the tears, our coordinator called to tell us that his medical came back clear. We had been waiting on some tests but he was given a clean bill of health!

We are off to Moscow in a few hours. Tomorrow, Dave and I have an appointment at the clinic to have our medicals done. That is the last piece of the puzzle - once these results are in we can wait to hear when we get to return for our court date! Dave keeps telling me that the end is on sight - it just can't come soon enough!

Update from Volgograd

We survived the plane trip and have spent the last five days visiting the orphanage twice a day to visit our son, Tyler David Nikita (DOB - April 30, 2009).  The heat has been unbearable and the rules of the orphanage are such that a child is not allowed to be in a room with air conditioning nor are they allowed to have anything cold to drink.  That goes against all things Shepley!  That being said, we've enjoyed our daily visits in the blazing hot sun or contained in a stifling hot music room.  Tyler is really quite cute and very gentle, much like Dave!

Our first day at the orphanage was nothing like I would have expected.  Luckily, we can walk to the orphanage and don't have to rely on a driver to get us there.  Our orphanage is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a sheet metal fence and a gate that is guarded.  Upon our arrival, our translator took us to the room where Nikita lives.  Inside, there were three caregivers (one of whom looked just like Mrs. Garrett from the tv show "The Facts of Life", only with gold capped teeth) all speaking Russian, pointing at us and calling us "mama" and "papa."  They quickly got him changed and handed him over to us, not without requesting that we bring diapers the next time we come!  We were quite overwhelmed at this moment but Nikita/Tyler snuggled right in and was quite content to be held by either Dave or I.

The doctor at the orphanage and the Canadian doctor that examined him in our presence both said that he was a healthy little boy that needs to gain some weight.  He only weighs 16.5 lbs.  Needless to say, he loves the cookies and juice we have smuggled in each day!

Over the past five days, he has really come out of his shell.  He giggles, chirps, and always has a big smile on his face.  He can take four or five steps on his own or can go the distance with a finger.  He loves to swing and is always exploring all the things around him.

Tomorrow afternoon (Monday) we will go to the notary to initiate the formal adoption proceedings.  Tuesday will be the last day we get to spend with him because we must return to Moscow that night.  We are required to undergo medical examinations by a panel of eight doctors.  Upon our return to Canada, we will learn as to when we will return to go to court to complete this process.  It will likely be some time in October.

We've managed to do a little bit of sightseeing but decided to save a lot of it for when we return in October.  It will definitely be cooler in October.

Pictures to follow ...

Preparing for our first trip to Russia

Five years ago we were preparing for the birth of our daughter, Meg.  We really didn't know what to expect or realize just how much our lives would change.  Today, we are preparing to leave for Russia in four days to meet our son.  We feel even more anxious and nervous this time around.

Dave and I decided to explore adoption last summer and quickly decided that we were interested in pursuing an international adoption.  At times, everything seemed to move quite quickly but there were times when it seemed to take forever.  For example, it took forever to have my fingerprints cleared by the FBI but then it only took a few weeks to receive approval to adopt internationally from the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services.  All of our paperwork was sent to Russia in April of 2010 and was forwarded to Volgograd region in May of 2010.  We received a referral for a fourteen month old baby boy on Friday, July 9, 2010.  We had only four days to decide if we wanted to proceed with this referral.  After contacting an international adoption doctor in Rhode Island, we were able to send him the bit of medical information we received on the child and the two pictures we also received.  After consulting with this doctor, we decided that we wanted to accept the referral.

The past three weeks have been filled with lots of trips to Toronto to submit the necessary documents to our adoption agency and figuring out everything that needed to be done before leaving on Monday, August 9, 2010.

Apparently it is super hot in Russia right now.  Those of you that know Dave and I know that we really don't function well in extreme heat.  We considered turning off our air conditioner and sleeping in our flannel jammies to get used to the heat but quickly decided against this.  Our only hope is that the temperature will drop prior to our arrival next week!