In Which We Hail a Cab

Well, all I can say is that this has been quite the adjustment. Our poor boys will have lived in 5 places in 1 week – the first being the baby house, then 3 different apartments, and finally, home. Home! Yep, you heard us. Providing all goes well at the embassy (which we anticipate it will), we will be leaving for home on Thursday. We could not be happier.

We found out at about 2:30 this afternoon that we would be moving to a new apartment in 1 hour. It was a bit stressful trying to fit everything back into the suitcases and every available bag. (We had, of course, gone grocery shopping right before this news.) Our new apartment has a nicer living room but a smaller bedroom and we lost our view of the mountains (much to Andrew’s chagrin). We are able to put the boys on each side of the bed on the floor (fully padded with blankets) and not worry about them hitting their head or falling out of bed. The bed is only a double (as opposed to the king at the last place). This apartment is fine, we are just tired of moving and can’t wait for cribs and highchairs!

We were able to spend about 3 hours with our friends, Josh, Saige, Andrey, and Gregory, today, which was great! They leave for home tomorrow and we will definitely miss them – all of the families we have spent time with on this trip have become lifelong friends. They showed us around which we really appreciated. We had an interesting time with taxis today: Andrew asked a man at a fruit market where we could find a taxi, and he indicated the corner at which we were standing – but then, perhaps seeing both of us holding or pushing a boy, he actually went to the corner himself, hailed a passing car, and negotiated the rate. We quickly realized the driver was actually just a guy who saw we needed a ride and offered to give us one – I guess this is fairly common. :) Anyway, he was very nice and practiced some of his English with us and assured us that President Bush and Osama Bin Ladan are secretly, best friends. “Big secret” :) We were so grateful for the guy who stopped – not such a common practice in the U.S. Our second ride was actually a taxi, a very old taxi. We worked hard to hail it; all four adults. :)

We ate at a great Italian restaurant with our friends, which was awesome. The boys did pretty well and we managed our first restaurant experience with only 1 glass of water spilled into the diaper bag (ironically, this happened right after we were complimented on the boys’ behavior). Oh, we did have a few thrown papers and napkins but hey, overall it was good.

Tomorrow, the boys have their medical appointments. There is mandatory HIV testing so we will have to wait for that test to come back before we go to the embassy; we will go to the embassy on Wednesday. Both of our boys have previously tested negative but evidently there has been a problem in one of the regions. We have heard the physician is wonderful and we are looking forward to getting the boys updated weight (it’s been over a month since they were last weighed). They are both very good eaters but haven’t been with us long enough for there to be much difference yet. :)

This is a long overdue mention of the boy’s first meeting. We picked Patrick up first and it was just very cool to talk with the director again. She wished us well and pointed out to me that there would now be 3 men in the house. :) We took our donations at that time and also brought some chocolates for the nannies. I was able to exchange a new outfit for one of the outfits Patrick had worn while living there (to put in his baby box). He was so happy to see us and had been looking for us all morning. :) We are so thankful for the excellent care they gave him. Then we went to the other baby house to pick up Calvin. He also was thrilled to see us but regarded Patrick as a minor inconvenience as he hopped back and forth from Daddy to Mommy with big smiles. Patrick was feeling very shy and would only let me hold him. He observed Calvin without a smile. :) So no big hugs or anything, but we didn’t expect that. They were very tolerant of each other and even a bit cordial unless it came down to sharing something. :) They are doing pretty well with each other though Patrick is a bit of a bully. Calvin is probably warmer to Patrick than vice versa but Patrick sometimes tries to calm Calvin when he is crying, which is very sweet but Calvin hates it! They sometimes are a little jealous of each other but we try very hard to make sure both feel loved and secure.

We’ve spent a little extra time with Calvin today – he didn’t take a nap this afternoon at the same time as Patrick, so we played with him which he thought was great! He fell asleep much later which made his bed time later as well. Patrick has been very tired and is so good at taking naps and going to bed. We are happy to report that both boys are in bed and really we had a minimal number of fits today.

We are delighted to have found food more suitable for the boys…their digestive tracts will appreciate it! We think our weight loss plan started the moment the boys came to live with us. I don’t think Andrew or I have eaten 3 full meals in a day yet! Oh well, we will get into a routine when we get home.

We can’t wait to back home again in Indiana! We think it will be awhile before we want to travel again!



We are posting this sweet picture of the boys sleeping together the first night. We have since learned that it is better to separate them as they inadvertently kick and hit each other in their sleep. :) They are both bed hogs and toss and turn a lot!

We will try to keep up with the blog for these final days. The countdown is started! We feel so blessed that this trip has gone so smoothly. We are making it out in the fastest possible time (very rare!).